A Past To Be Forgotten
by Kiyoshi'sGirl64
Summary: Haunting memories. A ruined partnership. A dead friend. A missing brother. And a bounty hunter who wants them all dead.
1. Reunion

FCL64: Hello. Against all odds, I have returned. I really wasn't planning on writing another fic (at least not any time soon) because I'm working on a story of my own. However, my friend wanted to see what I would do if she designed a character for me. That idea evolved into the following: we have created a loose plot for this story. We are each going to write the story in our own way to see how different they turn out based on our imaginations and writing styles (what fun!)

Kiyoshi: Must you talk so much?

FCL64: Only on the first chapter. Okay this chapter includes a lot of firsts for me (strange, considering it's fic number 24. Who knew so many firsts still existed?). It's the first time I have… 1) collaborated with anyone in any way (might not be safe, just a warning) 2) attempted to use Kuronue as a character in an important role 3) intended to tell a considerable amount of the story in flashbacks 4) tried to switch back and forth from past to present tense 5) told parts of the story from third person pov and parts from first person pov. Taking all of that into account, it should be very…

Kiyoshi: Interesting.

FCL64: Yes. Oh, and if you've never met him, that's Kiyoshi. He's my muse or the person in my head or my imaginary friend or whatever. He was initially created for my story 1 Dead, 3 Missing, but then he never really went away. Together, along with my friend animegrlsteph, we own Ayaka. Let the first chapter commence. Apologies that this note was so long.

* * *

The doorbell chimed. "Shuichi, could you get that?" Shiori Minamino called out to her son.

"Yes, Mother," Kurama responded, quickly rising and heading for the door. He pulled it open and blinked. His brow furrowed momentarily. Then any evidence of his surprise disappeared and he said, "Ayaka. You cut you hair."

"Same old Kurama," the girl in front of him said grinning, her waist-length hair moving in the evening breeze. "You never could manage complete control over your emotions. There were always telltale hints. Seems that that, at least, hasn't changed."

He smiled slightly. "One moment, Ayaka." He turned back and called to his mother, "I'm stepping outside with a friend for a bit, okay, Mom?"

"Yes. Dinner's in ten minutes. Your friend is welcome to join us."

Kurama stepped out the door and pulled the door shut behind him. "Come," he said, grabbing her hand. He led her away from the house, and as he did, his fingers grew longer, his nails sharpened into claws, he grew taller, his eyes faded to gold, his red hair turned silver, and silver ears and a tail flickered into existence.

The fox demon Kurama looked at the girl. "Why have you come here, Ayaka?"

"I never could get the smooth transition down," Ayaka said, ignoring the question. "It always looks so sudden." As she said it, snow white fox ears popped into view on top of her head, and a matching tail flicked behind her. Nothing else changed, but Kurama didn't even seem to notice what had.

He stared calmly into the pale blue eyes of the girl in front of him. No expression was evident on his features; he calmly stood and tried to read her expression. She did not look away but met and held his gaze. The wind blew slightly sending a few silver hairs into his line of sight. He impatiently brushed them back with a clawed hand.

She hadn't moved. Her white-blonde hair waved in the breeze, tangling itself around her shoulders and face. Her blue tunic was loose and belted down with a thick strip of leather, and the fabric hung down over loose black pants. She wore no shoes.

"Well?" she finally asked. "Done analyzing yet?"

"Why have you come here, Ayaka?" he repeated.

"I'm not allowed to look up an old friend?"

"Not after four hundred years."

She looked down, ashamed. "I saw you at the Tournament of Kings. Now, almost a year later, I decided the best way to finish the healing process was to contact you."

"The healing process…" Kurama muttered.

"You got over it then." It was a statement, and it was quite accusatory.

"No," Kurama replied sharply. "I never got over it. It still haunts me. I may have moved on, but I never _got over it_." He glanced at his watch. "She'll be starting to worry. If you want food, you're welcome to come. But the rules are no ears, no tail, no claws, no talk of the demonic, and above all, in there I am _always_ Shuichi." He stopped then added quietly, "And the idea of the healing process is completely ludicrous. There will always be painful scarring. I will never get over it."

After a moment of silence she ignored his last comment and said, "Got it." Her ears, tail, and claws vanished, and his faded into nothingness as his height diminished. His hair darkened slowly and his eyes morphed from gold coins to bright emeralds. "Damn you're good at that," she muttered.

"I've been practicing for four and a half centuries longer than you have," he replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're an old man, I get it. Just how old again?"

"Almost fifteen hundred years." He was no longer meeting her eyes. His voice contained something Ayaka could only say was regret. "Fifteen hundred years…"

"A fifteen hundred year old demon in an eighteen year old human body?" she asked, "How on earth hasn't that ended in disaster?"

She didn't really expect an answer from the normally taciturn Kurama. She got one anyway. "She loved me even though she probably sensed I felt superior to her. Heh… I was always so arrogant. Her love kept it from ending in disaster. She showed me that, of the two of us, she was superior to me."

Ayaka knew Kurama well enough to know how hard it was for him to admit that. As he opened the door, she stated, "You love her."

"More than anything." They walked into the dining room where Shiori had already set out five plates. "Mom, this is Ayaka. She's an old friend. I haven't seen her in a while."

"Understatement of the millennium," Ayaka said under her breath so that only Kurama would hear. "Literally." Kurama elbowed her to get her to shut up.

Shiori called her husband and stepson to the table. The five of them sat down to eat. Ayaka didn't speak unless they asked her a question. As welcome as she felt, she knew she didn't fit in. By no stretch of the imagination was she a human. But she could see that Kurama was comfortable with his new life. His stepfather soon made him chuckle. Then his stepbrother made a face, and Kurama burst into laughter.

Ayaka smiled. That laughter… so many memories.


	2. Laughter

FCL64: Well here we are, chapter two. Here is where the flashbacks start. Along with first person pov.

Kiyoshi: We and animegrlsteph have joint ownership of Ayaka. Although, since we're both writing the story, the author has taken a few liberties with her appearance. Sorry animegrlsteph, I couldn't stop her.

FCL64: Wait! You're the person in my head! It's long been established that I don't write these stories; you and any other people who may be hiding in my brain do that for me.

Kiyoshi: Whatever.

* * *

_Ayaka pov_

_I wander through the forest. It's getting dark out. That's when the worst kind of demons come out. I must find a place to sleep._

_Suddenly, a loud shout of laughter breaks through the stillness of the night. It quickly gets quieter, but it continues. Against my better judgment, I head toward the sound. Something in it doesn't sound cruel or evil. As crazy as it is, something in the sound promises safety._

_I guess they sense my presence because the laughter stops. I continue in the direction I heard the noise and find a small camp. It's abandoned. And quickly._

_An uneaten meal sits beside the remains of a fire. I reach out to touch the ashes but immediately jerk back and put my fingers to my lips to soothe the burns. They've only just left. "Please," I shout into the darkness, admittedly not the best move in Makai at night. "I just want somewhere to sleep. I don't feel safe out here alone. Not at night."_

_Something flashes to my right. I spin to face it, but it has already vanished._

"_Mmm… she's got a quick eye and quick reflexes to match it," a voice says from the tree branches above me. "What do you think?" I try to find the speaker, but it's too dark._

"_Why not? If she tries anything, we still outnumber her," a second voice replies from ground level. I spin to face it, but I still can't see anything._

"_Always logical, aren't we?" the first voice asks sarcastically._

_The only reply is laughter. The same laughter that led me to this clearing. "Just come out," I plead to the darkness. The laughter only grows louder and is joined by the laughter of the first speaker. "Please," I whisper, but they somehow hear me._

_The laughter stops. "Well, Kuronue, I suppose we better do as the lady asks, since she's asked us so nicely."_

"_I suppose."_

_A spark comes from the direction of the laughing man's voice. Then a lit twig flies across the clearing and restarts the fire. As the small flame grows, a silver-haired demon-fox steps into view, and a bat demon descends from the treetops._

_The bat demon looks at me thoughtfully. After a moment he says, "On second thought, I don't think she can stay. Traveling with one fox has nearly gotten me killed far too many times for my liking. God forbid I travel with two."_

"_Who's to say the near-death situations weren't your fault?" The man's words aren't sharp in the slightest. These two men are more than just traveling companions; they're best friends. Now I feel I'm intruding. And I feel nervous because they both look vaguely familiar._

"_You are?" the laughing fox demon asks._

"_Ayaka."_

_He holds out a clawed hand to me. I take it warily. Rather than shaking it he lifts it to his lips. How oddly formal. And evidently not his normal behavior as the bat snorts and says, "A true gentleman you are not." Then he laughs._

_The man who kissed my hand rolls his eyes and drops my hand. "I'm Kurama. And this overgrown bat is Kuronue."_

_Those names. Where have I heard those names? And where have I seen their faces?_

_Without warning Kurama adds, "You're welcome to travel with us, as long as you are comfortable being alone once in a while. We do our business at night." He glances at Kuronue then continues, "More importantly, as long as you don't have a problem with bounty hunters."_

"_Is that what you do?" I ask. They don't exactly look like bounty hunters._

_They freeze, then the laughter begins anew, even louder than before. I am bewildered at its cause and equally bewildered as to how they can avoid being attacked when being this loud. "We're bounty hunters, she says," Kuronue manages to get out. "Indeed. You give me your head, Kurama, and I'll give you mine. We'll turn each other in, and between the two of us, we'll end up with the entire reward."_

_Eventually Kurama and Kuronue's laughter dies, and Kurama tells me, as if I haven't figured it out, "We both have a price on our head. A rather high price." Kurama grins wickedly._

_I shiver. I know they don't mean to harm me, but something about them gives me the creeps._

_Yet, somehow, I also feel safe._

* * *

Review responses:

animegrlsteph: glad you liked the first chapter. her age... i'll send you a timeline. as for how old she appears-eighteenish.

Foxgirl Ray: interesting is what i'm going for. :) interesting keeps people reading. i'm happy you enjoyed the first chapter.

turtwigfan98: Glad you like it! Here's your update.


	3. Contemplation

FCL64: We have returned.

Kiyoshi: Unfortunately.

FCL64: Why don't you have any enthusiasm?

Kiyoshi: You have a headache. Just because it doesn't bother you that much, doesn't mean the person in your head isn't suffering.

FCL64: Oh… Well, you know the whole deal on ownership of Ayaka. Here's chapter three.

* * *

After everyone had eaten, Kurama helped his mother with the dishes. As he did so, he asked, "Would it be alright if Ayaka stayed with us for a few days?"

"I suppose." Shiori Minamino wasn't too keen on having a girl close to her son's age stay the night.

Kurama pretended not to notice his mother's hesitation. "I don't really feel comfortable telling you the circumstances. It's her business, but she has nowhere else to go."

"My father likes to drink," Ayaka said quietly. "But then he tends to get violent." She showed Shiori a bruise on her arm Kurama strongly suspected hadn't been there a moment before. Shape-shifting the appearance subtly was often very useful. Ayaka continued, "Normally I just stay at a friend's for two or three days. But after last night, I am not going back."

"She needed a friend her father had never met," Kurama added.

"Oh," Shiori said in surprise. "Of course you can stay with us. As long as you need to. Shuichi, if you could just finish the dishes, I'll go make up a bed for her in the guest room."

"Thanks, Mom."

Once Shiori was out of earshot, Ayaka stood and walked over to Kurama and said, "We've still got it. We can convince anyone of anything."

"No," Kurama replied, drying the final dish. "We don't have part three of our act."

Ayaka didn't answer. Maybe visiting Kurama hadn't been such a good idea. It just kept bringing up a past they both wished they could forget.

Kurama showed her to her room. "The bathroom's down the hall," he said. "We can talk in the morning, but right now, I really need some time to just think things over."

"Fair enough." Ayaka had had the last year to contemplate what showing up at Kurama's door might mean. He had been given no warning.

Kurama said, "Good night. I hope you sleep well."

She smiled. "First time I've had a real bed in a long time. Thank you," she paused, "Shuichi."

He smiled back. "Thank you." He walked down the hall and pulled the door shut.

He sat down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees. He put his forehead to the heels of his hands, and his fingers got tangled in his hair.

He couldn't figure out why she had decided to come back now. It had been more than four hundred years. The past was the past. Kurama desperately wanted to keep it that way.

Because until he'd met Hiei, this life he had with Shiori was somehow better than all the years he'd spent as a thief. Boring in comparison, perhaps. But being loved and learning to love made it all worth it.

Hiei. Hiei had dragged his old life back to him, and he had picked back up all too willingly. Of course it had only been to save Shiori, but even that hadn't gone as planned. He hadn't died. Yusuke had seen to that.

But everything was different after that. He frequently helped the strong, but often irrational, spirit detective with cases. He trained the human Kuwabara. The three of them fought side by side in the Dark Tournament with Hiei and Genkai. Then they all split up. Genkai and Kuwabara stayed in the human realm. Yusuke, Hiei and he had all traveled to the furthest reaches of the demon plane.

It was there that he was forced to confront the first reminders of his bloody past. Yomi. The first of his partners. Kurama was nearly five hundred then. Yomi was a couple hundred years younger. Kurama had never truly trusted him. And he had never felt remorse at trying to have him killed. On the contrary, he often wished he had hired a stronger killer.

And now this. His past was seeking him out. Kuronue had become his partner halfway through the thirteenth century. Kurama was nearly twice his age then, but that made no difference. Kuronue was just as calm and just as ambitious as Kurama.

Their partnership soon developed into true friendship. Kurama had betrayed Yomi without a second thought. But he would have died for Kuronue. The two of them were the perfect pair. They got away with anything they attempted. They needed no one else.

Ayaka came anyway.

"Damn it," Kurama muttered. Louder, "Damn it!" He hit the wall with the side of his fist. It left a slight dent.

A moment later, Shiori rushed in. "Is something wrong, Shuichi?" She always wondered if there was something wrong with her son; he was always so calm and very rarely got angry. It was almost unnatural for a boy his age. But then she worried when he did get angry because it was so out of character.

"She doesn't let it show… She's a lot more upset than she seems," Kurama told his mother. "And there's nothing I can do." It was completely true. Shiori just didn't know that the reason he could do nothing was that he was in exactly the same position as Ayaka. Perhaps a worse one.

"Just be there when she needs you," suggested Shiori, gripping her son's shoulder. "Sometimes that's all you can do. And often it's just enough." She glanced at him, then turned and walked out.

Kurama sat on his bed and thought over everything for nearly an hour. By then, the house had fallen silent. He stood and crossed his room to open the door. He walked carefully down the hall and noiselessly opened the door to the guest room.

He leaned against the frame of the door and looked at Ayaka's sleeping face. She looked so innocent when she was asleep. To himself, Kurama muttered, "Exactly like the first time I saw you…"

* * *

Foxgirl Ray: Thanks for the review. Here's your chapter. I'm glad you thought their laughter made them sound like best friends; I was worried they were laughing too much. Also, I'm glad you liked the flashback scene, although I can't promise they'll continue to make sense; Ayaka is not the only person who tells the flashback sequences and they are not all in chronological order (sorry!). But the fact that you liked the first one is promising; it's the first time I've attempted to write a stream-of-consciousness first person pov. :) You're my only reviewer, so this chapter is dedicated to you!


	4. Acceptance

FCL64: Chapter four? When did this happen?

Kiyoshi: Oh my god. Ayaka is a character created by the author, myself, and animegrlsteph.

FCL64: Chapter four? Kiyoshi! When was this written?

* * *

_Kurama pov_

_I laughed, that's all. And now this little fox demon stands in front of me. Ayaka, she said her name was. She's young. Inexperienced, bordering on innocent. At least in comparison to the two of us. But like Kuronue said, she's got a quick eye and quick reflexes to go with it. Both important in our line of work._

_I can see it in her eyes that she is uncomfortable with my scrutiny. But there's something else. "You're nervous," I say, "Yet you're calm and you feel…safe. Why is that?"_

_Now she simply looks alarmed. But she doesn't sound as alarmed as she appears, which is odd. "How can you tell?"_

_Kuronue grins, almost wickedly. "Kurama's a master at identifying and analyzing emotions. Could be one of the reasons he's so good at hiding them himself, when he wants to…" The last bit he says thoughtfully. At least as thoughtfully as Kuronue ever gets when no one is around but me. He already trusts her to some extent. And that could be promising or potentially life-threatening._

"_Oh." She actually sounds as if she understands, at least a little bit._

"_Are you going to answer my question?" I ask her._

"_Nervous because you're criminals and the best of friends. How can I truly trust you at all? Calm because I feel safe. And I feel safe because of…" She stops. She's embarrassed of what she is going to say. "Your laugh," she finishes._

"_My laugh?" I admit, not what I was expecting. Kuronue knows it too, if his face is any indication._

"_It was truly happy. No trace of cruelty or evil."_

_Me, not cruel. She has much to learn. "Just because you can't hear a trace doesn't mean the evil and cruelty aren't there." Something glints at her waist._

"_But it means it's not there at that moment. Meaning that the person has some good in them."_

_She has had more experience than I guessed. And she can effectively imitate emotions, if not hide them. She can put on an effective mask of surprise, at the very least. How interesting. First time in a long time I've been so inaccurate. Maybe it's because she's still so optimistic. "Interesting…" It's a solid gold locket with a large diamond set into the front and a sapphire of a similar size on the back._

_The conversation begins to die, so Kuronue seizes the opportunity to give me a hard time. "Your laugh is what brought her to us. That makes this your fault."_

"_On the contrary," I say, "It is you who is to blame, since you are the one who made me laugh." He chuckles, as do I. Perhaps we do laugh to much. It brought this girl to us, but just as easily could have led a bounty hunter into our midst. Why on earth is the locket at her waist rather than around her neck? It would appear that it has more meaning than she wants to admit. She had it hidden even before she found out we are thieves._

"_Don't even think about it," she warns me suddenly, "Either of you." Kuronue has noticed it too. What is it, I wonder?_

_I glance at Kuronue. "Quick to notice, quick to react, yet she doesn't miss the details."_

"_She'll fit right in." He rubs his thumb over that pendant in the almost religious manner he has. For a moment, Ayaka and I do not exist for him._

_She notices the action too. "What is that?" she asks me._

_By now Kuronue has returned to his senses. The look on his face says he'll let me answer, but the truth is not an answer I am allowed to give. "A pendant. That is all you need to know. If we can truly trust you, he might tell you. In time." It took him nearly a century to tell me._

_She nods. "I won't ask again, and I will let it rest, provided…"_

"_Provided?" Kuronue asks skeptically. "You don't seem to be in a position to bargain, as you have a similar item you obviously want to keep just as secret."_

"_Provided I can go with you on your next raid."_

_Kuronue looks at me, and I see we've immediately reached the same conclusion. But let's let her worry over it for a moment. "I don't know…"_

"_Six eyes, six ears, six hands," Kuronue points out. "Six is better than four, Kurama."_

"_But running blindly into the clearing was not very intelligent. Perhaps two of each of those six would be a liability rather than asset." It has always amazed me how little we actually need to speak. That is one thing that makes our partnership work so well; no need to speak helps preserve the silence, which is often necessary._

"_Observant eyes without missing details are never a liability."_

"_You guys are just playing mind games with me now," she mutters. "You've already made your decision; I just can't tell which decision you've made._

_Kuronue chuckles. I join in and, soon, she can't resist; she begins laughing right along with us._

Foxgirl Ray: Well, in all technicalities, the entire story is dedicated to you (as well as all my other reviewers) but that won't be mentioned till the end. And that chapter was dedicated to ONLY you, so I guess that's exciting. I am glad you like my story that much (I, too, am hard to impress; very few stories would I ever say that about, which makes me even happier someone feels that way about mine). I hope you liked this flashback as much as the last and I am thrilled you like Ayaka so much. I hope you'll like the OCs I introduce in the next few chapters as well. As for Shiori discovering the truth... I had never even considered that, but it opens up so many more possibilities. Thanks for the idea; I will most definitely be thinking it over.

animegrlsteph: I am glad you like the way I portray her. She's actually one of the more difficult characters to write. If the name 'Aliah' or 'Alanna' ever appears where it appears Ayaka's name should be, let me know, okay? I caught that mistake in a different chapter the other day. Maybe having three main characters in different stories with names starting with A isn't such a good idea. I'm also glad you liked the flashback where they meet. Hope you enjoyed the continuation of that just as much.


	5. Discussion

FCL64: Chapter five already?

Kiyoshi: What are you doing? You don't have any idea what comes next.

FCL64: I don't have to. I'm not the one writing this story. You are.

Kiyoshi: I don't know what comes next either!

FCL64: So you say. You (the readers) know the whole complicated situation with the ownership of Ayaka. Here we go.

* * *

"Shuichi?" Ayaka was awake the moment Kurama muttered the words to himself. Awake and totally sober. She even remembered not to call him by his name.

"It's not morning… but I think I'm ready to talk. At least, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

She nodded and sat up, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. Kurama walked over and sat next to her. "I know what you mean," she told him. "I'm sorry I gave you no warning. That wasn't really fair."

"Tell me about it…"

"I said I'm sorry."

"Yes. I'm just having trouble dealing with this right now. My past is haunting me. You know, I really wanted the past to stay buried, but lately, it's been refusing to cooperate. Or some part of my subconscious doesn't want it buried." He sighed.

"Lately?"

"Yomi sought me out for the Tournament. Not the other way around. And when he sought me out, there was no tournament. Just a potential war that would have split the demon plane."

Ayaka was slightly confused. "How is that bringing up your past?"

Kurama looked at her. "Even after two hundred years working with you, I did not trust you with everything. You have seen many instances of my cruelty. But not everything of which I am capable."

"You mean to say that some of the things I've seen… they're not the worst?" Ayaka remembered all too well how cruel Kurama and Kuronue could be when they were angry. If she were being honest with herself, how cruel she was capable of being, since she was a willing participant.

"Yes. Yomi was my partner before Kuronue. He could see back then."

"What happened?" She immediately registered the fact that Yomi's blindness was somehow relevant.

"Our personalities clashed. I was content to wait, to plan, and I needed to know all the details. He was headstrong and impatient. I hired an assassin. Needless to say, the killer failed, and Yomi was only blinded. Until he summoned me, I did not see him again. He had caught the person I hired, who revealed everything to him."

Ayaka's eyes were wide, but she couldn't say she was completely surprised. Kurama had always been a paradox she'd never been able to understand. One moment he was the cruelest of demons; the next he was laughing and the best friend anyone could want. But betrayal? She'd never thought he'd be as treacherous as that. She tried to hide the horror she felt, but as was usual, Kurama saw through it. She could never hide anything from him. Occasionally she came close, but she was never successful for long.

"Don't worry," he told her. "My partnership with Yomi was never anything more than business and ambition. Nothing on which you can really build trust. What I had with you and… what the three of us had was more than a mere partnership; we were friends. We would have done anything for each other."

"I'd still do anything for you," Ayaka told him.

"And I for you." Then Kurama added, "But so much has changed. Things will never be as they were."

"But we must try and make them right."

"They will never be right." Kurama said it sharply, but Ayaka knew the slight anger was directed at himself and not at her.

"It wasn't your fault. And you know I don't mean that it can ever be fixed; just that we might find some closure."

"Closure… maybe." Kurama looked skeptical, as if he wished such a thing were possible but could not make himself believe it.

"It's possible, Kurama. You have to believe that," Ayaka pleaded. "Please, at least—"

"Shhh," Kurama hissed.

She stopped speaking, listening for whatever Kurama might have heard or sensed. Kurama's fox ears grew to enhance his hearing. She followed suit. "Someone's here." She could feel it too, but she couldn't identify it. Then suddenly, it vanished.

Ayaka relaxed, but Kurama remained tense. "He's gone, Kurama."

"But how did he find us? And why now?"

Kurama had lost Ayaka. She was intelligent, but Kurama still often left her feeling confused. He made intellectual leaps Ayaka could rarely follow. "What?" she asked.

But Kurama was on a different planet, in that place he went when he frantically wanted to understand something but could not. It made him oblivious to nearly everything. She took his shoulders and shook him. "Kurama," she said, rather loudly. "Snap out of it."

"He's come back," Kurama said. "Good night Ayaka." Then he went back to his room, leaving Ayaka bewildered, and they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

animegrlsteph: Glad you're still enjoying the story. As for there not being words to describe it... that's probably because, overall, it is a rather odd story. Dangerous things happen when we work together.

racerabbit: I'm glad you think Kurama's in character; I was a bit worried about that. As for his relationship with Ayaka, they hug a lot, but they're nothing more than friends and I don't see it developing into anything more than that. I'm glad you like it that way, because in a situation such as this, people have a tendency to want romance (which I can't write). As for Kurama and Kuronue's relationship not being yaoi... never. The only time I would ever write a yaoi fic would be to annoy animegrlsteph and then the likelihood that it would be posted is very, very slim.

Foxgirl Ray: I'm glad you are still enjoying my story, and that you like the way I am writing Kurama. Sorry, but we don't get to see how the raid goes because the weird flashbacks start next chapter (is this a good thing, or a bad thing?). Yes, I really like having the switch of having Kuronue as a main character. I don't remember what led us to that decision, but as a result, I had to go watch YuYu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report on YouTube. I don't watch the anime, I only read the manga, so that was unusual, but I needed to know who Kuronue was and the basic nature of his relationship with Kurama for this story to work. Which makes me particularly glad you're pleased with it.


	6. Hunter

FCL64: Chapter six… ready set go.

Kiyoshi: As usual, she's forgetting the fact that she owns no one but Ayaka. And she doesn't even have full rights to Ayaka.

FCL64: Whatever. Here we go with a rather interesting flashback chapter.

* * *

_Kurama pov_

_1527 A.D._

_He's dead. And that man. I was far too worried about Kuronue's wounds to have noticed him. But Kuronue's subtle gestures made me notice. I fled, and I am not proud of it. Even though Kuronue told me to run, I should have stayed. I could have taken him. They've never been a match for us. Bounty hunters are rarely strong enough to take down their quarry. This one would be no different._

_Except that he had gotten one of us already. I could see in his eyes, and Kuronue's, that he was the one who had set the trap. He was the one who broke Kuronue's pendant. And if that's all he tried, it means he knows more about us than I am comfortable with._

_I don't like it. Those eyes. They are the darkest purple imaginable. If not for the torches of those who were after us, even I would not have been able to distinguish the iris from the pupil._

_And the hair. Spiked in every direction. The color of which I have never seen the likes of before. The darkest shade of pink, bordering closely on red._

_He was dressed in black leather. I met his eyes just once. They said quite clearly that I was next. But that's not true._

_He is next. I feel Kuronue's pendant. It is heavy in my hand as I flee to the place we left Ayaka. It is heavy in my hand. Maybe that's just how it is, maybe it's a metaphor for how much I already miss my friend. That bounty hunter is next. I will avenge Kuronue. I will avenge him, even if it costs me my life in the process._

* * *

_1593 A.D._

_Ayaka pov_

_Kurama warned me of this. We've been so careful the last twelve years. But then we started getting careless; it didn't look like he was coming back. Now here he is._

_Those purple eyes. I don't know how Kurama could have seen the color at night; I can hardly see it in broad daylight. He lunges toward me, knife in hand. I dodge, barely avoiding him. "Who are you?" I gasp, merely from instinct. Most demons have the honor to at least give their name before they kill._

"_Kyo. Not that it matters. You will be dead in five minutes."_

"_You're him. You're the one who killed Kuronue."_

"_Why, you are quite smart. I understand that of your little group, you will be the easiest to take down. It was supposed to be you that night. But you weren't there so your bat friend took your place."_

_Tears well up at the thought that it's my fault Kuronue had to die. Then I remind myself that this man is obviously after all of us. He would have come after Kurama and Kuronue eventually. His knife nicks my side and I scream. He laughs because he doesn't realize it's not from physical pain but from emotional anguish._

* * *

_Kurama pov_

"_Ayaka!" I call. The red-haired man spins around. His eyes narrow when he sees me. _

"_You just make this so easy. I'll kill the girl, and then you're already right here. I'll get both rewards at once."_

"_That's not the way you work," I snap. "You could have killed me easily while I was trying to save Kuronue."_

_He stops and smiles manically. "You might like to know that the reward I got off of him has kept living quite contentedly since then. Now the girl's reward is almost as great as his was at that time."_

_Ayaka is moving slowly. He suddenly notices and lunges, but it's already too late. She sinks her knife into his stomach. I grab her hand, and we run. Eventually I am forced to carry her because she is bleeding._

* * *

_Ayaka pov_

"_Thank you Kurama."_

"_You're the one who wounded him, although I doubt he's dead." Kurama leans over and bandages my wound._

"_You're the one who distracted him."_

"_I suppose… teamwork always was our specialty…" He doesn't mention that our team is incomplete. In the past twelve years, I have only heard him say Kuronue's name once. That was two days after that monster got him. Kurama was asleep and called out the name._

_I only wish things could go back to the way things were. I know we can't, but I still wish._

* * *

_Kurama pov_

_1992 A.D._

"_You," I spit out._

"_Me," the bastard replies calmly._

"_I will kill you," I threaten. I mean it. He deserves to die. He killed Kuronue. Kuronue._

"_Try it. I've already gotten the best of you once. You don't think I can do it again?"_

"_We beat you once too, if you don't remember."_

"_You managed to distract me with your intriguing conversation. I now know better. If not for you, I would have killed her then. As it was, I failed. I still got the girl in the end, though. I thought you might like to know. It wasn't long after you two went your separate ways. Maybe you would have killed me if you had been there. But instead she's dead."_

"_You son of a bitch." I lunge at him. But in my anger I miscalculate. He dodges and stabs me in the back. I collapse. I glare at him._

"_I told you I could beat you again."_

"_I swear to you on my life, I will kill you one day," I promise him._

_In soul form I flee to the human world._

* * *

well here we are at review replies once again.

Foxgirl Ray: I hope that I will eventually answer all of your questions. If you have anything you're confused about, feel free to ask because, starting with this chapter, the flashbacks are going to get quite confusing. As for why I don't watch the anime... when I was little, my mom would never let me watch any form of anime because it drives her crazy how their mouths don't match their words. So I read the books. And now the voices don't match the way the characters sounded in my head. That's all there really is to it. Plus I've always enjoyed reading more than watching tv.

animegrlsteph: This chapter interesting enough for you? So I wrote chapter... fourteen the other day, and it's very odd. But then I tried to print it out and we're out of black ink. So it's printed in dark blue. So my notebook has black ink-black ink-black ink-BLUE INK... sigh.


	7. Planning

FCL64: Hurrah! Chapter… seven!

Kiyoshi: You forgot what chapter it is?

FCL64: Only own Ayaka, with help from animegrlsteph.

Kiyoshi: You forgot what chapter it is.

FCL64: Here we go!

* * *

Kurama woke in a cold sweat. He felt like he couldn't breathe. But before he had a chance to gain control over his thoughts, Ayaka screamed.

He was out of bed, out the door and down the hall in seconds. He threw open the door and sat down on the bed next to Ayaka. He put his arm around her. She pressed her body next to his and sobbed, "Oh, Kurama."

Shiori appeared a moment later. "What's wrong?" she asked, sincerely worried about the girl she'd met only hours before.

"I dreamt…" Ayaka was still crying. "I dreamt of that night. That night he came for me."

Even in her fright Ayaka was being vague. Shiori hadn't a clue what Ayaka was talking about. Kurama knew exactly what she was talking about. Shiori thought she meant her father. Kurama knew she meant the bounty hunter.

Shiori stood there awkwardly for a moment, then said, "I'll go make some hot tea." She hurried out.

Ayaka pulled away from Kurama and looked up at him. "It was him, wasn't it? He was the one here earlier."

Kurama hesitated before nodding. "I dreamed of him too. All three encounters."

"Three?" Ayaka had recovered control of her emotions and was now calm.

Kurama indicated his human body. "I only escaped him in soul form. I was too weak to shift back. It's a miracle we escaped that one time. We shouldn't have."

"Oh, Kurama!" She threw her arms around him, trying to comfort him for the near-death experience he'd suffered eighteen years previously. "I'm so sorry. But why now?"

"We're together," Kurama answered simply. "He could have been following either of us."

"Kurama… how will we get away?" Ayaka is as worried as Kurama has ever seen her.

Shiori walked back in and set a cup of tea on the bedside table. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you." Ayaka took a sip of the tea. "Ow! Hot!" Kurama chuckled.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'm going back to bed."

"Mom, I think I'm going to grab a sleeping bag and stay in here the rest of the night. Just in case…"

"Shuichi…"

"I'll leave the door open."

"I guess that's okay then…" Shiori left.

"Why do you need to leave the door open?" Ayaka questioned.

"Ayaka…" His voice held a warning, but she had heard embarrassment in his voice when he was speaking to his mother.

"Oh." She said, reddening slightly. The she repeated, "How will we get away?"

"We won't."

"What?" Kurama was never negative, only realistic.

"We can't escape him, Ayaka," Kurama said. "I thought you were dead until you showed up at my door. He said he'd killed you. And now he's found us again."

"But we have to try," she begged.

"Ayaka, I am not giving up. I just refuse to run from him. He'll find us again eventually. Besides, I have a promise to fulfill."

"What's that?"

"I swore on my life I would kill him." Kurama's eyes were dark, and he was seething with rage and hatred.

"But how?" It had been a long time since Ayaka had felt so helpless.

"I need to talk to some friends tomorrow." Kurama didn't mention any names, and Ayaka knew better than to ask. Not when Kurama didn't want to reveal something. Not when he was in this kind of mood.

* * *

The next morning, Kurama and Ayaka went to Yusuke's house. Keiko was there, trying to drag him out of bed. "You… need… to go… to work!" she grunted, pulling at his arm.

"Let me handle this," Ayaka said. She lifted her hand and flicked her wrist, and a considerable amount of water flew into the room and collided with Yusuke's face.

He sat straight up. "Cold!" Looking around and seeing that no one held any manner of dish, he added, "Who did that?" He was suspicious because a demon he had never met was in his house. Ayaka wiggled her fingers to indicate that she was responsible.

"This is Ayaka," Kurama explained. "She's an old friend and partner."

"Partner?" Yusuke asked skeptically.

"Does it really need further explanation?" Ayaka asked, smiling sweetly. Then she added, "You touch it, you die." Yusuke's hand had been inching toward the locket at her waist.

"How did you—I just wanted to look at it!" Yusuke protested.

"Yusuke," Kurama laughed, "Even the best pickpocket is no match for a master thief."

"Thief?" Keiko asked. "The water? This is something not only demonic but criminal as well. That's my cue to leave." She rushed out, not able to escape the otherworldly fast enough.

"What're you doing here, then, Kurama?" Yusuke asked. "I know this is more than just a social call."

"A little more than four hundred and fifty years ago, Ayaka and myself were working with… a third party. The third person was killed by a bounty hunter. The bounty hunter later returned for Ayaka's life, and mine. That was the fight I was injured and forced to flee in soul form. Hence this body." Ayaka marveled at how calmly Kurama related it all, but it pained her that he still refused to say Kuronue's name. "He's after us again. We need your help."

"Never thought I'd see the day when it was you who needed my help."

"I'm serious Yusuke."

Yusuke looked Kurama in the eye and immediately agreed. Ayaka looked into those same eyes and shivered. She saw the exact same thing as Yusuke. But it didn't hold any memories for Yusuke. So many memories.

It held more meaning for Ayaka than Yusuke could have imagined.

* * *

Reviews:

animegrlsteph: yes. I wanted Kyo to sound ridiculous, while simultaneously frightening. As for nearly crying because of Kuronue... there will probably be a chapter sometime in the future that _does_ make you cry because it goes into that even more in-depth. Ugh. I'm not looking forward to writing that one. It'll be hard.

Foxgirl Ray: Great prediction! Glad you got that; I wasn't sure if I made it clear enough. Thanks for your review!


	8. Haunted

FCL64: Here's the chapter!

Kiyoshi: Ayaka is own in part by us and in part by animegrlsteph.

FCL64: Of course it's necessary!

Kiyoshi: Because I feel like it. There's more language in this chapter than in previous ones, but under the circumstances, I think it's warranted. Is typing our conversation backwards really necessary?

FCL64: Why are you so boring?

Kiyoshi: Hurrah.

FCL64: CHAPTER EIGHT!

* * *

_Ayaka pov_

_Where are they? They should have been back already. It wasn't supposed to take this long. They knew exactly what to do. I should have made them let me come. Someone could have waited outside. I understand that this job was dangerous with more than one person but nearly impossible without at least two. And they do have that ability to communicate without speaking. But I should've gone. Where are they?_

_I spin around. Sticks are breaking behind me. "Who's there?" I call. Kurama and Kuronue are never this loud until they're actually back at camp. There's a reason they've never been caught._

_No one answers. I douse the fire quickly and step away, our practice if anyone is coming. The footsteps keep coming and the fire soon restarts itself. Or rather, Kurama restarts it. He has nothing with him. Kuronue must have it. But where is he?_

_"Where's Kuronue?" I ask._

_Kurama looks as if he is going to say something. But he doesn't. He…can't. Instead he holds out his hand. It is clasped tightly around something. I hold out my hand, and he lets something fall into it. It's heavy for its size. I look closer. Oh, god. Kuronue's pendant. The chain is broken._

_"Kurama! Where's Kuronue? What happened?" I am nearly screaming at him but he doesn't respond. He doesn't even look at me. What is wrong with him. I lower my voice, "Please, Kurama… what happened?"_

_"He…he… he wouldn't let me help him. Said it was better if I escaped. I told him it wasn't worth it. He went anyway. He knew. He knew about the pendant. He broke it. And he's coming for me eventually." Kurama seems broken. I never could have imagined him like this. I've seen him angry. I've seen him upset. I've seen nearly every emotion anyone could throw at you. But never could I have imagined that an emotion could gain so complete a control over him. At least not a negative emotion. And his positive ones very rarely. But never did he lose his cool like this._

_"What are you saying Kurama?" I ask._

_"He…he's dead, Ayaka. The goddamn bounty hunter got him." He looks up at me and I step back. Those eyes are haunted. So many emotions, all so intense, packed into those small golden orbs. So much emotion should never be confined to such a small space. It shouldn't even be possible. I want to look away. I need to look away. I want to look away! I can't. I can't._

_His eyes are haunted. Guilt. Hurt. Rage. Self-loathing. Hate. Mostly hate. But I can't tell if it's hate directed at someone else, or if it's hate directed at himself._

_"Bounty hunter?" I'm not screaming any more. In fact, I can hardly hear myself._

_"Pink hair, almost red. Purple eyes, almost black," he mutters. I don't think he's really talking to me. I think he is merely trying to commit every detail to his own memory. "Black leather. So much black leather. Knives? Knives. And…why can't I remember, damn it!"_

_I fall backward and sit next to him. Kuronue is dead. How? Kuronue. Our Kuronue. Our laughing, flying, overgrown bat Kuronue. So many raids, and it's not the actual raid that kills him? It's a damn bounty hunter? No. No. I'm falling. I try to catch myself but I can't. Black encircles me. Swirling black._

_I open my eyes. What happened? Oh why, why, did I need to ask that? Kuronue. It's daylight out now. Kurama is laying on his back staring at the sky. I somehow think he hasn't slept. I look to the sky. It's well past four in the afternoon. Which means it's been nearly thirty six hours since he last slept._

_He doesn't glance at me. I look away. I feel like I should say something to him, comfort him in some way. But there isn't anything. There are no words. Kuronue was one of my best friends. It's hard to comfort someone when you're grieving for the same reason. Why did it have to be Kuronue? Why not me? It would have been easier for everyone involved if it had been me._

_I'm not foolish enough to think that, even though I was an equal partner, I was an equal friend. They had something that even after one and a half centuries I cannot begin to fathom. I know I hurt because I lost Kuronue. I feel as if I cannot breathe. But… but I also know that Kurama feels just as bad. No, Kurama feels worse. There was nothing that could have torn Kuronue and Kurama apart. Nothing. If Kurama had needed to decide to save me or Kuronue, we all knew who he would have picked. It went unsaid._

_I don't hold that against them. But I can't find a way to try to comfort him either._

_I don't know if I fell asleep or if my brain just stopped. It's close to midnight now. We haven't eaten for more than twenty four hours. But I am not hungry at all. I highly doubt Kurama is. Last time I looked, he looked as if he wished he could join Kuronue._

_I glance at him. He's asleep. Suddenly, although his eyes remain closed, he screams into the darkness, "Kuronue! No! It's not worth it!" He calms slightly then mutters. "It's not worth it. I shouldn't have left. I could have saved you. I could have save you."_

_I close my eyes. Sleep will not come._

* * *

Reviews:

animegrlsteph: Hiei w/o Kaien... next chapter. Hope this chapter was... enlightening.

Foxgirl Ray: I am thrilled that you have no problem with the past and present colliding. Lots of that, especially starting next chapter. As for your idea, if you write it out and post it, let me know so I can read it, okay?


	9. Confusion

FCL64: Chapter nine?

Kiyoshi: Why are you asking me?

FCL64: I thought you might know.

Kiyoshi: Wow. Ayaka is the only person we have any ownership rights to. Oh yeah, the bounty hunter Kyo. Sorry it's so short. That's where it had to end, in order for the next chapter to work.

* * *

Kurama, Ayaka, and Yusuke hurried to find Kuwabara. "Kurama!" the orange-haired teen called when he saw his old friend. "It's been a while!"

"I wish I weren't here under these circumstances."

Kuwabara's good mood faded slightly. He eyed Ayaka nervously. "Who's this? And what circumstances? Something that is going to nearly cost us our lives again?"

"This is Ayaka and yes, it is potentially deadly. But Ayaka and I will most likely be killed if we do not have your help."

Kuwabara sighed. "Kurama, could you just come out and tell me what's going on?"

"A bounty hunter from when we were still thieves is after our heads."

"You two worked together?" Kuwabara was thrown off by the idea that she was a thief who had worked with the notoriously cruel fox demon. He really should have stopped being surprised.

"Yes. Along with a third person, who was already killed by the same bounty hunter. That's why I refuse to run again. I intend to avenge him." Kurama's eyes were hard, and in the green, they all got a glimpse of something they all associated with the gold. Cruel, cold hatred.

"Who?" Kuwabara asked.

Ayaka's eyes widened in horror, Kurama's went blank. Before Kuwabara could ask again, Yusuke, who had seen the look in Kurama's eyes before, interrupted. Looking at Ayaka, he asked, "Who are you? You seem familiar…"

Ayaka grinned. "I'm surprised you noticed."

"Huh?"

"I'm Aka." She was suddenly three inches taller. Her long blonde hair had vanished and a coppery red color took it's place, styled so that the longest bits at the front came down just past her ears. Her pale, icy blue eyes were no more; gold ones quite reminiscent of Kurama's had taken their place. She had her snow white fox ears and white tail.

Yusuke jumped back. "You! You're that weird chick from the Tournament!"

"I didn't even fight you!"

"Well… I made the conclusion that you were weird from the ten minutes I talked with you."

"Oh, thanks." Ayaka was back to her normal appearance.

Yusuke added, "Of course, you're probably only that way because you worked with Kurama for who knows how long."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "You guys understand the situation, right?"

"As far as you'll let us," Kuwabara replied. "I'm in." Yusuke nodded in agreement.

"Thanks you guys. Before we try to figure out what to do, there's one other thing Ayaka and I need to do." Kurama nodded a farewell at them and walked out. Ayaka followed. If Kurama wanted to tell her what they were doing, he would. If not, she just had to trust him.

Kurama headed for the park. There he headed with a strange amount of purpose toward the tallest tree. Once there, he called up, "Wake up and come down here. I need to talk with you."

A groan issued from the trees, but then Hiei dropped from the branches. "What do you want, Kurama?"

Before Kurama could answer, Ayaka said, "Hiei?" Then she looked around as if to find someone else.

Hiei looked at her. No reaction. Finally, "Ayaka." He turned back to Kurama, "What do you want?"

Kurama thought it best not to ask how they knew each other. Ayaka was looking desperately around the park for something—or someone—she was not finding.

* * *

Reviews:

Foxgirl Ray: I hope that was interesting enough for you... particularly Ayaka's reaction to Hiei. Next chapter should be coming soon; I know it's a bit mean to post such a short chapter.

naomi32795: Well, I'm glad you enjoy the story so far. I understand about the whole issue with being new to the site. It can be a bit confusing. What I hate is when they change the format in an attempt to make it easier to navigate the site; then anyone who's used to the old format is like, wait, what's goin' on here?


	10. Hiei

FCL64: We have returned!

Kiyoshi: With chapter ten!

FCL64: YAY!

Kiyoshi: Are you trying to make me deaf, woman?

FCL64: Quite possibly. Only Ayaka. Here we go!

* * *

_Ayaka pov_

_1779 A.D._

_I walk up to two men, one I would recognize anywhere and one I've never met. The latter is rather short, his hair is spiked in every direction, black with a bit of white at the front. A sword hangs at his side without any attempt at concealment. His eyes show no kindness._

_My brother's face is covered in surprise. The white-blonde hair that matches mine hangs down on either side of his face. He has this hair that will never cling to his face but still manages to frame it, highlighting the jaw that is made strong only by his confidence. A tail and ears identical to mine except for their light gray tone mark him as my twin. I can hardly see his icy eyes through his hair. He shakes it back to look at me._

"_Ayaka." He is slightly surprised._

"_Kaien." I smile and throw my arms around him. "It's been so long."_

_He hugs me back. "And whose fault is that?" he asks, stepping back to look at me, once again shaking his hair out of his eyes._

_I look at him. "Both of us. Yes, I know it's not all your fault. We both left. But I went back several times and you were never there. It took me forever to track you down." He nodded in agreement. "Who's your friend?"_

_The man behind him snorted derisively and walked away. Kaien nodded in a way that said this was the man's normal behavior. "That would be __HiHi__Hiei."_

"_I see. He seems kind of cold." I poke his arm. "How do you put up with it?"_

"_He's a good man to have around when someone's got a sword pointed at your throat. How about we just leave it at that?" Kaien gives me that grin he has, the one that always made me laugh when we were growing up. It still works._

"_Fine," I giggle. "So, what have you been doing the last four hundred years?"_

"_Whatever I feel like. I found a home among murderers, as bad as that sounds. You?"_

_I shake my head at Kaien's casual mention of murder. "While you have been out there killing for no apparent reason and getting rich off of it, I joined some of the most notorious thieves in Makai. For the most part, we didn't need to kill to get what we wanted." I am bragging a bit, I admit it._

"_Oh, yes. I believe I did see something about that." He pretends he has forgotten something. "Kurama, was it? And Kuronue? And my sister Ayaka. What a trio. From what I've heard of those two, you fit right in."_

"_I did." I avert my eyes and stare at the ground._

"_Past tense?" He takes a clawed hand and brushes the hair from in front of his eyes. "Ayaka, what has happened? You hide it well, but not well enough. You are devastated. But why?" He is picking up on something I have not said with more accuracy than Kurama ever managed. I can do the same with him. And this is one of the first times I have ever seen him this genuinely worried about me._

"_Kuronue is dead." Since that night Kurama came back without him, this the first time I've said it in so blunt a manner. "A bounty hunter killed him. Then later came back for me and Kurama."_

_Kaien looks at me seriously, a great feat for him. "There's more to it than that."_

_I sigh and nod. "I know this partnership between you and Hiei is normal. Nothing more than business. I've had partners like that. But that was not the way it was with Kurama and Kuronue. The three of us were friends. So his death hit me and Kurama hard. Even after two hundred and fifty years, I am not over it. And Kurama got hit harder than me."_

"_There's not much I can do for you. But I'll do what I can." He hugs me and holds me until I finish crying._

_1898 A.D._

"_You again?" Hiei asks._

"_Got a problem with it?" I snap. "Oh, Kaien!"_

"_Ayaka!" Kaien shouts. "You only left me for ninety years this time! Last time it was a lot longer."_

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get the point."_

"_Why'd you come back this time?"_

"_I got tired of being alone. You and Hiei always welcomed my company." I grin._

"_Feh." Hiei says and stalks away._

"_Okay, you welcome me, and Hiei tolerates me."_

"_We're going on a raid tonight. You want to come?"_

"_You know it."_

_We charge our way through the castle, killing anyone who gets in our way. In a sickening way, it's comforting. A way to release this anger I feel at the bounty hunter, at myself, at Kurama which is ridiculous, and at Kuronue which is even more so._

_As we leave the castle, I catch a glimpse of the locket at Kaien's hip. Black onyx on one side, orange garnet on the other. I rub my fingers across the diamond and the sapphire set into mine and I smile. Our connection still holds strong._

_1967 A.D._

"_Oh, Kaien! Oh, Hiei!" I call loudly._

"_Again?" I hear Hiei ask my brother. "She stayed for thirty three years the first time, and five years last time. How long this time?"_

"_You speak of me not only as if I'm not here, but if I am a liability rather than an asset," I tell him, acting hurt. "It's quite rude."_

_Hiei doesn't respond. Kaien laughs. "Ayaka, I have yet to figure out where your manners come from. One moment you're chastising Hiei for talking about you as if you're not there, the next you're breaking into someone's home and killing everyone."_

"_Got anything planned out for tonight?"_

_1977 A.D._

_I approach Kaien but he doesn't give me a chance to speak. He stands and hugs me. "Good luck, wherever you're going. I'll miss you until you come back."_

"_You make this too easy, Kaien. I should feel bad leaving."_

_He shakes his head. "No. You're traveling with me. If I ever show up to travel with you, I don't want to feel bad for leaving you, when the time comes."_

_I nod and turn and walk away._

_Hiei pov_

_2006 A.D._

"_Kaien."_

_He looks at me. "Hiei. You have something in mind. Another raid?"_

_I nod. "I think we're ready. I've gotten enough power back."_

_He eyes me carefully through that white, white hair. "This idea you have… am I right in saying it's both more ambitious and more dangerous than anything we've attempted thus far?"_

_I nod. "I want three treasures."_

"_So what's the problem?"_

"_They are the conjuring blade, the rapacious orb, and the mirror of darkness. They are in the possession of King Enma."_

"_Hiei, we have neither the manpower nor the abilities needed to infiltrate the Spirit World's top security vault." He is not thrilled by my suggestion._

_I stare at him and I can feel my third eye glowing. He does not flinch away from it. "We have the connections needed to find those people."_

"_No, Hiei." I don't show it, but I am surprised. He has never defied my suggestions before. "I am not prepared to risk my life for this. I may be stupid sometimes, but stupid is not the same as suicidal."_

"_We are going to do this raid, Kaien," I say forcefully._

_He stands to face me, his five foot ten frame nearly a foot taller than my own. "I thought it was understood, Hiei, that this partnership was based on the fact that we are equals. If one of us wishes to postpone or not go on a raid, it is postponed or cancelled. That is why this works much better than most."_

_I glare at him. "There have been plenty of times your sister cancelled the raid on us. She was never part of this agreement. I let her become involved anyway."_

"_I cancelled because she did not feel well. One of her best friends had died. And if you don't want her involved, she does not need to be your way to manipulate me."_

_That damn sister of his. She brought out his soft side. He never did things the way he normally would have while she was around. "We are going on this raid, Kaien."_

"_Feel free," he responds, his hand drifting slowly to the hilt of his sword. "But if you go on that raid, this business we've been doing together… you can consider it over. Whether or not you are killed."_

"_Then that's the way it is." I meet his eyes but he refuses to look away. "But you know of my plans now. You know—"_

"_I know perfectly well what it means to you. But I will not just sit here and allow you to kill me."_

_My three eyes narrow and his hand tightens on his sword. My hand whips to my katana and both of our swords our unsheathed in less than a second. I hear the clash of metal and my mind goes blank._

* * *

Well, there was only one review, so here is my response...

Foxgirl Ray: I understand that this chapter probably doesn't entirely clear up her reaction to Hiei, just explaining her recognition. The next chapter should explain it though.


	11. Explanation

FCL64: Chapter eleven!

Kiyoshi: We only have ownership rights to Ayaka!

FCL64: Here we go!

* * *

"Where's my brother?" Ayaka asked Hiei. She had never seen Hiei without her brother, and last time she'd left them, they had shown no signs of parting ways. And the activities they were engaged weren't always safe. They were hardly ever safe. When Hiei didn't answer, and Kurama just stood there, waiting for the issue to resolve itself, she repeated, "Where is my brother, Hiei?"

"I do not know. What do you want, Kurama?"

Kurama looked at him and then at Ayaka before saying, "It can wait. You two need to talk about her brother before you use me as a shield to avoid real conversation. I don't know what went on between you two and Ayaka's brother, but there are obviously some things that need to be worked out."

Hiei shook his head at Kurama. "If you aren't going to tell me why you're here, this conversation is over. If you've forgotten, you came to me, not the other way around."

"Please, Hiei," Ayaka interrupted, "I just want to know what happened to Kaien. He's my twin brother. I need to know."

Hiei had no intention of answering. Kurama, on the other hand, had latched on to one word. "Hiei, it's sounds like she's in a situation you were in only a short time ago. What would you do if Yukina disappeared again? I've heard twins have stronger bonds than other siblings."

Hiei wished looks could kill. "I get your point. Yukina remains unaware, and I will speak with Ayaka."

"Deal. Ayaka, you cannot tell anyone Hiei is Yukina's brother, twin or otherwise."

Ayaka nodded, although she wondered why Hiei refused to tell his sister. Then Hiei said. "I have no idea where Kaien is. We had an argument. I left him bleeding on the ground. Not that I feel bad; he wounded me nearly as bad. Now, Kurama, what the hell do you want?"

"You left him bleeding on the ground? You left your partner of more than two hundred years for dead?" Ayaka screamed, tears streaming from her face.

"Yes. You yourself once said that our partnership was nothing more than business. We no longer agreed on what that business should include. He was trying to kill me just as much as I was trying to tell him. Kurama, last time I ask; what do you want?"

Ayaka didn't interrupt. Kurama looked at her and understood that she had received the answer she sought, even if she didn't like it. So he said, "A bounty hunter is after us. He is the one who killed our partner and—"

"Kuronue?"

Kurama flinched and nodded. "And he's made attempts on both of our lives. Now he has come back. I will not run again. He is going to die. But I don't know if we can take him down without your help."

"That powerful?"

"And intelligent." Kurama affirmed. "There will be fighting."

Hiei knew Kurama was using Hiei's love for swordplay against him. But his desire to fight won out over his desire to spite Kurama's obvious manipulation. "Fine."

Kurama nodded. "Thank you Hiei." He looked at Ayaka. She had fallen to her knees. Her tears had stopped, but somehow that was worse. He looked at her and saw himself just after Kuronue's death. Ayaka had been a close friend of them both, but she had not been as close as they had been to each other. Losing her brother… for her, that was the same as his losing Kuronue.

"Ayaka?" he asked. "Are you ready to go?"

She didn't respond. She was on another planet.

* * *

Sorry it's so short and after the wait (actually, I don't know how much of a wait it really was...). But I needed to set it up so you can learn a little bit about Ayaka's past & her brother Kaien next chapter.

Reviews:

animegrlsteph: well here it is! hope you enjoyed her freaking out. but if Kuronue was still alive, nothing about this story would work. at all.

Foxgirl Ray: yep. interesting things happen when I sit down and just let whatever comes out of my pen become the story.


	12. Childhood

FCL64: Kiyoshi has disappeared. Why, you may ask. It's because, finally, I have decided you deserve a description of him. And he doesn't like it when I do this. So here we go: He has black hair that is never even and is generally of a length where the longest parts are just past his chin. It has a tendency to fall into his eyes, which are very dark green. He is sixteen and his birthday is April 17. His most… distinguishing feature is the purple-green planted growing out of his left forearm (he's left handed, too… uh-oh). It heals him but is also potentially deadly if someone tries to hurt him.

Kiyoshi: Then why aren't you dead? You've attempted to hurt me on many occasions.

FCL64: Oh, good. You're back. It's because you're in my head, so your plant loves me almost as much as it loves you. Here's the story!

Kiyoshi: Good thing I did come back or you would have forgotten to mention the fact that we only own Ayaka, Kaien and Kyo (the bounty hunter).

* * *

_Ayaka pov_

_983 A.D._

_Cold. Bright. Shapes. Shadows._

_Woman. "My darling Ayaka. Welcome to the world." Mother._

_Laying on something soft. Covered. Warm._

_Movement close to me. Another's skin. He looks at me. Smiling. Brother._

_Mother. "Ayaka and Kaien. Aren't they lovely?"_

_986 A.D._

_Water is good. And ice. Ice is nice. I spin in circles in the fountain. Where is Kaien?_

"_Raaahhh!" he screams at me._

_I shriek and fall backwards into the water. "You are so stupid!" I shout, and I am pleased to see him get drenched in water._

"_How'd you do that?" he asks, dripping wet._

"_Do what?" What on earth is he talking about?_

"_Splash me."_

_What is he on about? "I didn't. How are you dry already?"_

_He looks at himself, just as puzzled as I am. "I do not know."_

"_So cute, aren't they?" a voice says behind me._

"_Mother!" we call out in unison._

"_I should have known," she grins to her friend. "They have been opposites from day one."_

"_What do you mean, Mother?" I ask, as Kaien makes faces, trying to make her laugh. I elbow him, but he continues._

"_You can control water and ice, my dear Ayaka," she explains. Then looking at Kaien she laughs and finishes, "While your goofy, darling brother here has an affinity for fire."_

_1111 A.D._

_Kaien and I approach our mother. She smiles, knowing our purpose. "I wondered when this day would come. It came far sooner than I would have wished, yet much later than I expected."_

"_Goodbye, Mother." I try to smile, but it is a sad occasion, leaving home for the first time with any sense of permanency._

"_Do not say it so," Mother says to me. "Say 'until we meet again.' It is less final. But not now. First I have a gift for each of you."_

_She produces two oval lockets, one with a diamond and sapphire, the other with onyx and an orange gem I believe is garnet._

_She hands me the blue and white one. "Water shall protect you. Keep this with you always." I nod, accepting the gift._

_She hands the other to Kaien. "Fire shall protect you. Keep this with you always." Kaien inclines his head toward her once, then takes the locket from her._

_Then she says to both of us, "The gems were found where the sun meets the sea. They each have a different yet powerful property. The lockets are opposites at first sight and powerful in themselves. But they are most powerful when they are in proximity of one another. Much like the two of you."_

"_What are the properties, Mother?" I ask._

"_Life and death, love and hate, peace and war, tranquility and fear, honesty and lies, hope and despair, loyalty and betrayal."_

"_Mother?" Kaien asks, evidently as lost as I am._

"_That is all I will say. You must learn the truth on your own. Just remember that you can always come home. And you will always find sanctuary with the other. Now, farewell, my children, until we meet again." She hugs each of us and the two of us step outside._

_I fasten my locket to the belt at my waist, and Kaien does the same. Then I look into the face that very nearly mirrors my own. I throw my arms around his neck. "Oh, Kaien! How I will miss you!"_

"_And I, you, Dear Sister." He smiles sadly and kisses my cheek. "Until we meet again."_

_I nod, and as we turn and walk away, I see him brush a tear from his cheek. I just let mine run down my face and fall to the ground. "Until we meet again, Kaien," I whisper. "I love you."_

* * *

Reviews...

Foxgirl Ray: Yes, Hiei can be a jerk. I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about Kaien.

animegrlsteph: Here is the chapter... ah, how I love Kaien. In this story it's a toss-up on who I like most, Kaien or Zuberi (he hasn't come in yet).


	13. Understanding

FCL64: We have arrived at chapter thirteen.

Kiyoshi: Already?

FCL64: Yes, you moron.

Kiyoshi: I am going to ignore that comment.

FCL64: Okay, so you're not a moron, but you control an unbelievable amount of my life, for a person in my head! Only Ayaka, Kaien, and Kyo. Here we go!

* * *

Kurama pulled Ayaka to her feet. "Ayaka," he said, "Are you alright?"

She looked at him, tears welling in her eyes once more. Her eyes asked quite clearly if he was being serious. "No," she suddenly wailed. "He's dead, Kurama. Kaien is dead, gone forever. I'll never see him again." The tears had no more room in her eyes and spilled over and down her cheeks.

"Ayaka," Kurama said gently, hugging her. "You do not know he's dead. Hiei just admitted that Kaien wounded him nearly as bad. And Hiei is alive and well."

Ayaka sniffled and wiped her eyes. Looking at Kurama through icy blue eyes she asked, "Then what am I to do, Kurama? No one is more important to me."

Kurama nodded. He understood her feelings and said, "Just wait, Ayaka. One obstacle at a time. Let us kill the bounty hunter, then I will help you find your brother, no matter how long it takes."

"You promise?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"Not to me. That I know of."

Kurama smiled. "Yes, Ayaka, I promise."

"Thank you, Kurama."

"Hiei, will you come with us to my house, to try and create a plan of action?"

"I suppose." Hiei's obvious reluctance to help was new to neither Kurama nor Ayaka.

As the three of them headed back to the Minamino household, Kurama suddenly froze. Instinctively, he had allowed his ears to appear. Seeing this, Hiei and Ayaka stopped. Ayaka followed Kurama's actions, and Hiei took a defensive stance. After a minute and a half, Kurama relaxed, though only slightly. His voice was hard. "He's following us. We must discover how."

Upon arriving home, Kurama found Yusuke and Kuwabara were already there. The three of them walked in, and Yusuke said, "We figured you were talking to Hiei and would come back here afterward. You're really not all that unpredictable, Kurama."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing you're here. He showed up again. I cannot figure out how he's following us without attracting attention. It's like he's there for a moment, then gone." After a moment, Kurama spat out, "It's like he's playing with us. He know what he wants and how to get it, but he wants us on edge."

Ayaka breathed in once then exhaled. "So we remain calm. Keep our heads. When we sense his presence, we pretend we don't. Just go about our business."

Kurama calmed slightly. "Yes. Yes. We can't play by his rules. That will result in the game he wants. We must turn it around."

"What's he after?"

"He wants us dead," Kurama replied sharply.

"Other than that. What's he after?" Hiei asked again. "He's followed you this far, after this many years, just for a reward that's dwindled to almost nothing? I think not. There is some other motive involved."

This had evidently not crossed Kurama's mind, as worried as he was about keeping Ayaka safe, staying alive and not letting Shiori discover the truth. "What else is there?" he asked rather coldly.

Hiei gestured vaguely to Ayaka's waist. "Pink Hair came after Kaien once. He wanted the locket."

"My locket?" Ayaka gasped. All of this was her fault then.

Kurama didn't buy it. "Then why kill… why come after me after Ayaka and I split up? That doesn't make any sense."

Hiei didn't answer, his silence revealing that he had nothing more to say on the subject. He'd given his opinion and now had little to no more interest in the conversation.

Yusuke, on the other hand, said, "There must be something else in combination with the lockets. But that can wait. We need to find a way to keep you two as safe as possible first."

Kurama nodded. He wasn't worried about himself. He'd faced death many times, yet here he was. Ayaka, however, he was concerned about. She knew it, too. "Quit worrying about me, Kurama," she muttered, almost insulted. "I can take care of myself and have been in plenty of dangerous situations—with and without you."

Suddenly Hiei muttered, "There is one thing it could be. Would go along with the lockets quite well."

Kurama looked questioningly at Hiei, who then said, "Don't you remember? It was only a few years ago."

* * *

reviews...

animegrlsteph: no definitely kaien. you haven't really met kaien yet. he's a lot more fun to write than the rest of them. of course, zuberi is a lot of fun to write as well...

Foxgirl Ray: Yep, more about the twins. More about them not next chapter, but the chapter after that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Its only real purpose was lead-up to the next chapter...


	14. Realization

FCL64: Well, here we are. Chapter fourteen. I stayed up until twelve-forty last night writing it. It's a bit long.

Kiyoshi: A bit? We only own Ayaka, Kaien, and Kyo, the bounty hunter.

FCL64: And despite what it looks like, this chapter is actually finished. It ends where it ends on purpose. I did not forget to type anything.

* * *

_Kurama pov_

_2008 A.D._

_What is he doing here? This is not what I need right now. Shiori is sick, and since the doctors can do nothing for it—since I can do nothing for it—I'm fairly certain it's at least partially my fault. Another demon lurking around my mother is something that is unwelcome. But I must try to be civil._

_"Hiei," I say, mimicking surprise. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I need your help." His eyes are cold, steely. Strange that he does not flinch or look down when saying those words. Most demons, particularly prideful ones as he seems to be, would have, if they had even asked at all. He doesn't mumble, either. His voice rings clearly through the hospital room._

_"Don't wake her," I say more sharply than I intend to. I quickly add, "What is it you need my help with?"_

_"The demon fox Kurama disappeared fifteen years ago," he states flatly._

_So that's his angle and why he wasn't ashamed of asking for help. He doesn't need help getting out of something; he needs help getting into it. "Tell me something I don't know," I suggest mildly, giving him no hints of my suspicions._

_"That human body has fifteen years. You introduced yourself as Kurama. I do not believe in coincidences." Hiei enunciates each of his words completely. There is no way I can pretend I do not understand._

_"All true," I say. "How does it pertain to this conversation?"_

_Hiei glares at me for half a second. He does not appreciate my playing dumb. But he says nothing about it. He evidently wants my help more than he is letting on. "You are the fox demon Kurama. You are the notorious thief. You are capable of getting through any lock, past any security system, into any vault."_

_I pause a moment, blinking slowly. "So I am," I finally reply. "Why does that mean you need my help? I need a reason before I agree."_

_"Along with a demon called Goki, I have decided to steal three treasures from the Underworld. But very few people are capable of breaking the codes guarding them. You are the best at what you do."_

_I can see that it is not flattery; just a statement of the facts as he sees them. And it is what I did, not what I do. But all the same, I am intrigued by what he says. I want to know his plans. Not that I will participate; I must stay here with Shiori. "What treasures?"_

_"The Conjuring Blade, the Rapacious Orb and the Mirror of Darkness."_

_He wants my help—my skills—far more than I imagined, to be willing to reveal that. "Interesting choices." When he doesn't respond, I continue, "I cannot say I particularly want to help…" But the mirror. It could save Shiori. I glance at her. I must do this. I finish my sentence, "But I suppose I can. First, however, we must discuss payment."_

_"Payment?" His voice is dead._

_"I do not break into vaults for free, Hiei," I say. "Especially not those in the Underworld."_

_"What is it you want?" He doesn't like the turn our conversation has taken, that much is clear._

_"I want the mirror." At these words his eyes flash, then narrow. I continue as though I haven't noticed, "At least until the first full moon after the theft."_

_I see in his eyes that he does not like my terms. Apparently, the young, arrogant demon before me doesn't know the sacrifice required. He is going to give it to me and allow me to use it. But he will be monitoring me and, the moment I've finished with it, he will kill me and take it back. I wish everyone were this easy to read. Not that it matters. I will be dead long before he has a chance to kill me. Rather reluctantly he agrees to my terms, "Deal."_

_I nod. "The sooner, the better. The Underworld vaults haven't changed in centuries; as tricky as they are, I already know how to break into them, so long as you have a plan to reach them." Lies, certainly. But the breaking and entering is never a problem. It's the getting out that always seems to cause a fuss._

_He seems momentarily suspicious of my statement, as he should be. But then he lets it pass. "Good. Meet up with me and Goki in the copse of trees on the far side of the park across the street. Tomorrow night at ten." Then he leaves._

_I do not like him in the slightest. But that matters little. He has provided me with a way to save my mother's life._

_I slowly approach the thicket Hiei described. From within it, I feel Hiei's all-too-familiar aura and another's spirit energy as well. They are waiting for me._

_I step into view calmly, showing none of the unease I feel at the idea of returning to my old profession. But such is life._

_Hiei's companion, Goki, is immense. And the way he smells…he is a soul-eating ogre. It is obvious why he is here. He is the muscle, if it should come down to that. I say nothing._

_Goki does not respect my desire for silence. "This is Kurama?" he asks quite skeptically. More mockingly he adds, "Heh…not much to ya, is there." So he is here solely for the muscle. At least I hope that's his only purpose because his intelligence leaves much to be desired._

_When I don't respond to his insult, he continues, "I heard Kurama had long silver hair, a razor-sharp aura, and was cold and ruthless to the core! So you evaded the hunters by possessing some pencil-necked human, eh? Show your true self, unless you aren't that Kurama." His threat is not well thought out, but I am still uneasy. He is itching for a fight. Not good. You must be calm at the start of a raid, or things invariably go downhill. And fast._

_"That's not possible. There was…fusion. I'm indivisibly Kurama and Shuichi Minamino." True enough. I could conceivably manifest my powers to their full extent. But that would most likely kill the human body I'm in and wreak havoc on myself. Not to mention Shiori._

_"Yeah?" he asks. He doesn't believe me. So he snaps, "We're out to steal the treasures of the Underworld!" He is definitely looking for a fight. He turns away from me and asks, "Hiei, you sure this guy's up to tackling that?"_

_Hiei doesn't seem at all disturbed by the fact that this idiot is questioning his judgment. He remains calm. He seems almost amused, as if he knew this would be Goki's response. Hiei is much smarter than I initially gave him credit for. "Why don't you check him out, Goki?" Hiei suggests, the hint of a smile playing at his lips. "I'll join up with whoever's left standing."_

_"Good idea," Goki replies, confidence dripping from every word. "I could use a bit of exercise."_

_Exercise? Is that what he thinks it will be to fight me? He is sadly mistaken. Unfortunately, I need to preserve my aura. My eyes are narrowed, and when he turns around, he flinches. How pathetic. Hiei could have done so much better than this. Except for the fact that he needs someone he is able to kill. He only chose me because very few people have my skill, and it is quite likely that, right now, I am the weakest of those few._

_"My aura level is not what it was but that's fine with me. There's more than myself to consider." Not my most subtle threat, perhaps, but it seems to do its job. Goki seems to remember that the intelligent fighter often wins, even if he is weaker. I then continue, "This fusion, you see, holds back what I was…but that doesn't mean I can't be worse!" True, at least in Goki's eyes. Perhaps not more powerful, but it is often the weak who are most cruel. I could very well try my hand at that, and he knows it. I add, "Care to test that?"_

_His face is all the answer I need. "Hey, it's cool. You're in, okay?"_

_I do not answer, and a silence surrounds us. Once again, it is Goki who breaks it. He is truly getting on my nerves. "I'm going to get a snack real quick. Is midnight okay?" Hiei nods curtly, and Goki walks away. Watching him leave, I know that, as little love as I have for Hiei, I like Goki even less._

_After he vanishes, Hiei says, "He's a moron, I know. But he's simply here to serve as a distraction, should we get caught."_

_Clever, if not entirely reliable. I just nod._

_We stand silently for nearly a quarter of an hour before Hiei speaks again. "What is on the chain around your neck? You've been wearing it every time I've seen you. You haven't done the best job at concealment, but it's completely safe, given that it's on your person."_

_I force a blankness to cover my face. I've found that I can't manage much more than that when on this subject. "Just a pendant."_

_"Its purpose?" He wants to know if it's worth taking once he has killed me._

_"It was a close friend's."_

_"But what does it do?"_

_That I definitely cannot tell him. He would surely take the pendant if I did. I draw it by its chain from my shirt, pressing my thumb on its surface, just as he used to do. Somehow, it seems to give me strength. "…I don't know."_

_"Then why carry it?" Hiei wants it already, no matter what it is capable of. But I must keep it safe. That was his last wish._

_I respond slowly, carefully choosing my words._

* * *

Reviews...

animegrlsteph: here is the chapter.


	15. Kaien

FCL64: CHAPTER FIFTEEN!

Kiyoshi: Just type. Ayaka and the bounty hunter and—

FCL64: AND KAIEN!

Kiyoshi: Yes… him too.

FCL64: YAY!

Kiyoshi: If you're at least slightly confused after this chapter… good.

* * *

Kurama gasped. "He didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands," he answered a question heard only by himself. He pulled the pendant from his shirt and stared at it.

Ayaka and the others stared at him. Finally, Hiei stated, "You never did tell me what that thing does."

"It has several very powerful properties," Kurama explained slowly. "In the wrong hands, it could be very deadly." He looked as though he was going to say more, but he stopped himself. "I can't tell you more. He hardly trusted me and Ayaka with that much."

Ayaka nodded darkly. "The fewer people who know what that thing can do, the better. Alone, with only one person, it rivals the power my locket has when it is connected to my brother's." Tears welled in her eyes, and Kurama gripped her hand, reminding her of his promise. She breathed in and out, calming herself. Then she continued, "And the lockets wouldn't have the same power if both lockets were present with only one person."

"Make your point," Hiei demanded.

Ayaka deliberated a moment, as if unsure how to continue. She eventually said, "My locket… it makes me capable of things I couldn't achieve on my own. Dangerous things. But when Kaien is there, and the lockets are connected, the damage they can do increases tenfold. Kuronue's pendant is capable of that on its own."

"How?" Yusuke asked her. "What exactly does your locket do?"

Ayaka's eyebrows furrowed, unsure of how to answer. Seeing her uncertainty and knowing Kurama to be the best speaker of them all, Yusuke asked, "Kurama, could you tell us?"

"No. I don't understand it myself. I never saw it. She tried to explain it once but it didn't make sense. I got the distinct impression that what she was trying to tell me and how I was interpreting her words were two completely different things." It had truly baffled Kurama when Ayaka had told him. He had mulled it over many times in the last five hundred years, and he was no closer to understanding it now than he had been the first night she had explained it.

But now Ayaka tried again. "It's a sensation that you can't truly understand until you've experienced it, but I'll try to explain. It…it's more of a _feeling_. It's like Kaien and I are one person, with one will. We have two physical forms, but our minds are one. Not only that but we're also connected to the entire universe. It's like being everywhere and nowhere at the same time. And it's as if the universe feels the same way about us."

"What?" Yusuke asked.

Ayaka sighed and pulled out her locket. "Maybe this will be easier." Pointing to the gems she said, "Sapphire. That is water, my element. Diamond. That is air. My brother's locket—" She stopped mid-sentence. Everyone else had tensed as well.

But Ayaka didn't freeze defensively like the rest of them; she froze from pure shock. Then she was on her feet, out Kurama's bedroom door and pounding down the stairs. Then everyone heard a relieved and joyous cry. "Oh, Kaien!"

She suddenly reappeared pulling a boy about four inches taller than herself by the hand.

Yusuke flinched back. "There's two of them!"

"This is my brother Kaien," Ayaka said, breathless with excitement.

"Yo." The boy flipped his white blonde hair away with a shake of his head, revealing pale blue eyes identical to Ayaka's. "Quite a party you've got going on. Interesting guest list; four demons and a human. Why wasn't I invited?"

"We didn't know where you were," Ayaka objected.

"Excuses, excuses." He laughed. Then nodding at the flame demon sitting in the corner, he said, "Hiei."

Hiei nodded back. "Kaien."

And somehow, those two words released nearly all of the tension in the room. "You two know each other?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah. Worked with him for nearly three hundred years." Kaien was totally at ease in a group of demons, two of whom he'd never met, the third of which had tried to kill him at their last encounter. But Ayaka trusted them, so he did as well.

"You worked with shorty for three centuries?" Kuwabara was genuinely bewildered. "And you survived?"

"Why not?" Kaien didn't mention the fact that he and Hiei had tried to kill each other. Then he changed the subject. "Where were you guys? No need to stop this _fiesta_ on my account." He suddenly sat down on the floor. "So what's going on?"

"Ayaka was trying to tell us about the lockets," Kurama said, eyeing the other kitsune warily. His instincts were telling him that this was another male fox intruding on his territory. But he'd need to control those impulses if he wanted to kill the hunter. "But she was having some difficulty explaining. Maybe you could help."

"And who are you?" Kaien asked. It was evident he sensed that Kurama was a fox demon as well and knew the dangerous line he was treading by entering the house with out Kurama's direct permission.

"Kurama." No hesitation. He'd find out soon enough, if he didn't know already.

Kaien nodded his head. "Okay then. Nice form." He turned to his sister. "The lockets? Really?" When she nodded, he breathed in, his eyes widened, and he frowned. "Good luck with that. I have trouble understanding it myself. To try and put it into words… not gonna happen. And to think it'd be even more powerful _there_."

Ayaka nodded. Everyone else was even more confused than before. Kurama included, and he usually knew exactly what was going on. After a moment's silence, Kurama said, "Can you try? Ayaka, you were explaining the meaning of each jewel…?"

"Oh, yes." She seemed to have forgotten entirely. "Sapphire is water. Diamond is air, or wind. Kaien's stones are onyx, which is earth, and garnet, which is fire, his element."

"How exactly is this going to help us understand?" Kurama asked.

"If you have that basis, it might be easier…to describe what actually…happens…" Ayaka's speech slowed, then trailed off all together. She was looking at Kaien.

A mischievous grin had crossed his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ayaka didn't give him the chance. She shook her head. "No." He looked ready to say something, but she continued. "No. We can't control it well enough to risk that Kaien."

Kaien rolled his eyes. "We won't get any better at controlling it if we never practice. Besides, they'd understand for sure if we showed them."

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked interested; Kurama looked surprised at this suggestion; Hiei looked the way he always looked—that is, bored and as if he felt the whole thing was a waste of time.

Ayaka still wasn't happy with Kaien's suggestion. "They'd understand, but we might kill them in the process. We hardly understand it ourselves, Kaien. We are _not_ going to connect the lockets. Especially not here in the middle of a human city. You _know_ the disasters that can happen when the lockets are snapped together."

* * *

Well, there you have it. Now for reviews...

animegrlsteph: that will be coming in a few chapters. the pendant is actually pretty scary...

Foxgirl Ray: Yes, the point of that was mainly to show how close Kurama keeps the pendant and why Hiei already knew of it. Hope you liked this chapter as well. The next chapter should explain some things.


	16. Lockets

FCL64: Here is chapter sixteen. I only have partial rights to Ayaka, Kaien and the bounty hunter. I do, however, have full ownership of the demon hobo. No one else.

Kiyoshi: Demon hobo?

Newt78: Demon hobo?

FCL64: That's what I said. Readers, Newt78 is my sister…

Newt78: Can I give the demon hobo a hug?

Kiyoshi: What?

FCL64: Kiyoshi, you know she has a strange obsession with hobos.

Newt78: Well?

FCL64: I don't think he'll actually be referred to a hobo in the chapter… but be my guest.

Newt78: YAY! (gives the demon hobo a hug) Here's the chapter!

FCL64: Sorry it's so long, and I apologize if it's a bit confusing.

* * *

_1214 A.D._

_Ayaka pov_

_Kaien and I have been traveling together for several years now. It's almost odd how easy it was to readjust to living with him. I guess we're just too close for our own good. It's strange that we get along as well as we do though. We're opposites, yet I don't remember ever getting into anything more than small arguments with him._

_We trek through the demon plane searching for a man we've been told can give us more information on the lockets that never leave our sides. It is nightfall when we finally arrive in the village we were told he could be found. We inquire of a woman living in a small hut where we can find him. She looks around nervously and says, "He doesn't like strangers knowing where he lives. He's paranoid. You'll have to find him on your own. I'm pushing him by telling you he does live here, in this area."_

_She begins to shut her door, but Kaien places the palm of his hand on the oak, keeping it from moving. I pull a bracelet of solid gold set with diamonds from my bag. "Will you tell us for this?"_

_She glances around. "About a mile past that next hill is a river. Cross it, then go left for a mile. His house will be there, hidden in the trees. Please don't tell him it was I who told you."_

"_We won't. Thank you." I drop the bracelet into her hand, and the door snaps shut._

_We follow her instructions. The sun has long since set when we arrive at his door. Kaien raises his hand and knocks, the sound echoing through the deserted woods._

_A shuffling comes from inside. The door creaks open, revealing the face of an old man. He doesn't open it far enough for us to see more than that. "Who are you?" he snaps. "What do you want?"_

"_We're looking for a man by the name of Zuberi."_

_The man's blank eyes stare off at a point behind us. But even though they see nothing, they are very expressive. They are narrowed. He does not like us. "Who is looking for him?"_

"_Kaien and Ayaka," I reply. "We have some jewelry we would like to know the true meaning of. We were told Zuberi is the man to see."_

"_Who told you?" This old man is very suspicious. The woman was right in saying he was paranoid._

"_I never caught her name," Kaien said good-naturedly. In reality, it was a man who told us to look for Zuberi, but that is irrelevant. He asked us not to tell his name._

_When we do not receive a response, I tell him, "We are willing to pay you."_

_There is a silence. "I cannot help you." The old man takes a step away from the door._

"_I am not afraid to use force," Kaien threatens, moving to push the door open. It doesn't budge. The old man is holding the door shut with the exact same amount of force Kaien is trying to push it with. There is more to him than we thought._

"_Come, Kaien. He is obviously not the man we are looking for. We should try somewhere else," I say calmly. Kaien looks at me, understands what I want and nods. I direct my words toward the old demon in front of us. "My apologies for disturbing you so late at night. Goodbye."_

_The door snaps shut._

"_Well," Kaien says. "Now what? I don't care what you say; I know that's him." He whispers to avoid being heard by the subject of our conversation._

"_I know it's him too. We're going to camp out on his doorstep until he agrees to see us."_

_He chuckles. "Fun."_

_It's three days before his door opens again. "You two are stubborn. Come in, come in."_

_Kaien looks at me. This man, this Zuberi, is quite a different person today. We cautiously enter his hut and sit down at the table he indicates. He has gray hair, speckled with white which comes down to cover most of his face in a scratchy mustache and beard. He is slightly hunched over and clothed in an old green shirt and baggy pants. His blind eyes wander through the room, but they don't seem to be wandering aimlessly. When he speaks, we catch glimpses of sharp front teeth. There are sharp claws on the ends of each of his fingers._

_The hut has only one room. In it is a small stove, a bed, a table and chairs. Nothing else. He sets a cup of tea before each of us and takes a third chair. "So, what can I help you with?"_

"_Why would you not help us before?" I ask before I can stop myself._

"_If I helped just anyone, I would have no privacy. My door would constantly be pounded on by people who do not truly need my help. You are obviously quite determined. So I ask you again, what can I help you with?"_

_I glance at Kaien. He nods. I remove the locket from my waist, as does he. We place them on the table and slide them toward Zuberi. He picks mine up first, feeling each edge of it. He repeats the process with Kaien's. "Fascinating. I rarely come across artifacts with such power."_

"_Yes," I say quietly. "We already knew they have power. But we haven't a clue as to what that power is or how to draw it out."_

"_I do not know if you should try to draw it out."_

"_What?" Kaien asks._

"_Dangerous, these are. Very dangerous. Do you know where the gems were found?"_

"_Our mother said they were found where the sun meets the sea," I tell him._

_He doesn't seem the surprised in the least. "True, true. But there is much more to it than that." He already knew where they came from? He continues, "They come from the place where the sun meets the sea, where the sea meets the sky, where the sky meets the land, where the land meets the sun."_

_He has lost me. He is as good at what he does as they said he was. "What?" I ask._

"_It is in that place that they would hold the most power."_

"_But how do we find that place?" Kaien asks._

_Zuberi doesn't respond to the question. Instead, he answers it with one of his own, "Have you tried opening them?"_

"_Yes," I reply. "There is nothing in it, except a snap to hold it shut."_

"_Or to hold them together."_

_Kaien and I look at each other. Hold them together. I grab my locket and pull it toward me. It opens easily, revealing half a snap on each side. Kaien does the same. We move to place them together, but Zuberi suddenly snatches them away. "I think not," he says. "These are very powerful objects in themselves; I will teach you how to draw out their individual power. I will not be there when you connect them. And you would be wise to do that in a place far from habitation."_

_He carefully places the lockets back in our hands. "Close them," he commands. "Let your spirit flow into them. Ayaka, the sapphire is the sea, and the diamond is the sky. Kaien, the onyx is the earth, and the garnet is the sun." I am surprised he remembers our names, but he doesn't seem to notice my shock. Or he is ignoring it. "Ayaka, my guess is that you control the sea, and you Kaien control the sun. By using these lockets, your power over those will increase. The destruction you would be capable of alone is phenomenal. But it does not come without a price. It will quickly drain you of aura, and you will need sleep desperately."_

"_Thank you." Kaien stands, reattaching the locket to his belt. I follow suit. "One last question. What would happen if we did connect the lockets?"_

"_Your will would become one with the will of the universe. The sun and the sea, the earth and the sky…you would share intentions with all four of them. But if you connected the lockets in the place where the stones were found, the universe would share your intentions."_

_He stands and ushers us out. "Your payment," I say. I hand him a ring, set with a gemstone even I cannot identify. He smiles._

"_Thank you but no. It has been my pleasure. And I know more about that gemstone than you do. I do not want it. Or any of the other pieces in your bag." I look once at Kaien. Then Zuberi says, "I have no problem helping criminals, but I will never accept payment in stolen gems." Then the door closes, a wall between us and the man who evidently knows more than he was willing to tell us._

"_To somewhere with little habitation?" Kaien asks me, eyes alight with anticipation._

"_You bet."_

_Eight days of travel later, we are alone. No other sentient beings for miles. We stand facing each other. "Aura first?" Kaien suggests._

_I nod. "He said it would drain our energy quickly. Aura, then snap. Quick as you can."_

_We pump our aura into the necklaces. Kaien snaps them together._

_OH MY GOD!_

_What's happening? I spin around, and so does Kaien. Back to back we look out at the abandoned landscape. It feels as though we are no longer _someone else is here_. There is no one in sight, but I have this feeling that someone or something knows we're here._

"_Who's out there?" I call at the exact same moment _Ayaka shouts the same thing_._

_We are on the same train of thought. What's that noise? Kaien's voice? But he's not speaking. _I can hear…her thoughts?

_The wind rushes around us, rain pounds down, lightning flashes, the stones rattle at our feet. Air. Water. _Fire. Earth._ I hear Kaien continue the same thought I am having. I wish everything would_ quit shaking. It's almost _borders on frightening._

_Suddenly it all calms. Not ceases. _Just more calm._ Lightening still flashes but less often and farther _not so near. The rain is no longer _pouring down. It only drizzles. The gusts of wind decrease_ in speed, but they continue to blow the dirt_ the dirt continues to swirl._

I want to be dry. _I see lightening strike a tree very close to us. It bursts into_ fire covers every limb. The rain ceases and the warmth of the fire _covers me, so hot it almost burns. I cry out and fall to my knees. It pulls my locket away from Kaien's and the connection breaks._

_The rain stops. The wind ceases. The shaking of the ground stops. The lightning disappears. The fire diminishes but does not go out. Kaien pulls me to my feet._

"_I'm sorry I had to be dry," he says. "I know that's what caused it."_

"_I know how you hate water. It's not your fault."_

"_But I'm the one who wished the rain to stop and a way to be dry. It's not a coincidence that lightening struck where it did, when it did." He feels bad._

"_Kaien, you didn't mean it. I'm fine. I just can't handle heat as you can, and it caught me off guard. I'm fine now. Could you…?"_

"_Hear your thoughts? Yes."_

"_And it's more powerful _there_," I say. He nods. Then suddenly we are both falling. We hit the ground at the same moment and the last thing I see is his eyes drifting shut as we both fall asleep._

ffgs

* * *

Well, there you have it. Reviews...

Foxgirl Ray: Hope this cleared it all up. And it's no problem that you were confused at the end of the last chapter. I was serious when I said I wanted you to be confused. The last chapter was partially important info, partially set-up for this chapter.

animegrlsteph: glad you love it! Unfortunately, bad things can happen when they're together...as displayed in this chapter.


	17. Balance

Kiyoshi: We have finally managed to write this chapter.

FCL64: Quit with the subtle comments about how I haven't written this story in a while! It's not my fault we got stuck!

Kiyoshi: That's why I said we…

FCL64: Oh, yes. We own no one other than Ayaka, Kaien and Kyo. Zuberi too, but he's not important for a while.

* * *

"We've only connected the lockets seven times," Ayaka said.

"And?" Kurama asked.

"Everything just," Frustrated Ayaka stopped, but Kaien finished her sentence.

"Goes haywire."

"Yes," Ayaka said. "Haywire is a good way to put it."

"Haywire in what way?" Kurama inquired.

"Well…first, when I put my aura into my locket, it somehow amplifies it. It still takes an effort, but I can do things with the water I would not normally be capable of. The same goes for Kaien, his locket and his fire. Do you follow?" This was the clearest explanation Ayaka could give.

Hiei nodded, but he had seen Kaien's locket at work. Ayaka was a lot more reluctant to use her locket, so even Kurama had never witnessed it. But Kurama had followed the explanation up to that point, so he nodded as well.

"I think so…" Yusuke said.

Kuwabara added, "Not sure, but I think I do."

Ayaka nodded. "Next thing you need to understand is that when we connect the lockets—aura or no aura,"

"We can hear each others thoughts," Kaien ended.

"Fascinating," Kurama muttered.

"Are you sure you can't hear each others thoughts right now?" Yusuke muttered. "It's like listening to one different person with two different voices."

"Get used to it," Hiei muttered. "I spent years complaining about it, and they haven't stopped."

"We tried once," Ayaka said, "For Hiei's benefit,"

"Yet it didn't work." Kaien said, "Obviously."

Ayaka seemed to remember what they were really discussing. She turned to Kurama and said, " When the aura is involved, it goes beyond telepathy."

There was a pause as Kaien and Ayaka thought of how to explain. Then Kaien said, "Our thoughts are simplified. All that is left is raw emotion. But it's the same emotion, even if we don't think it in exactly the same way."

"Okay, you lost me," Yusuke said. "I'm not going to fry my brain over this. Keep going, but I won't be paying attention."

"I second that," Kuwabara muttered.

"So how does all that relate to the elements?" Kurama asked.

"When the lockets are connected, the four elements follow our emotions. What we want, they achieve, but we do not control how."

"Seriously?" Kurama asked.

Ayaka nodded. "The calm needed to connect those lockets safely is almost impossible."

"What's the significance of each locket having only two elements rather than all four?"

Kaien said, "I think the wind and water listen to her while the earth and fire listen to me. It's like we want the same thing, but we're not thinking it in the same way. The slight variations in our thoughts sometimes cause the elements to clash. But it's never wind and water or earth and fire. Even Ayaka and I don't possess the teamwork necessary to think exactly as one."

"There is also the fact that Kaien and I are opposites," Ayaka added thoughtfully. "The timeless concept of yin and yang is exemplified in those lockets—opposites coexisting harmoniously for a delicate balance. One cannot truly exist without the other."

Kaien interrupted, "Yes. Earth and air are opposites. Fire and water. Then there is Ayaka and myself. Female and male. I have often wondered if I could even survive if Ayaka died. I have come to the conclusion that it would be possible,"

Now Ayaka interrupted, "But not fun at all. The surviving twin would survive physically but would be going on autopilot. That is how important Kaien is to me, Kurama. Whoever lived would suffer a mental, emotional and spiritual death. They would be nothing more than a shell. If not that,"

Kaien took over. "Then the balance would still be disrupted. The survivor would likely lose control of their single element, destroying everything in the vicinity,"

Ayaka continued, "Thereby self-destructing and restoring the balance by eliminating an unneeded opposite. We arrived at this conclusion separately. That definitely gives it some credibility." She rolled her eyes. "Logically, I should have known Kaien couldn't be dead. But I panicked." Kaien looked at her, and she added, "Hiei told me what happened."

He nodded and said, "We are opposites. Two halves of a whole. If the lockets possessed all four gems, it would not amplify the sense of needing the other. Which would make it more dangerous as the whole of the power could be controlled by an individual. As it is, two opposites must agree."

Kurama frowned. Louder he said, "Ayaka, you mentioned the concept of yin and yang. Are you aware that yin is the feminine side, passive and connected to water, while yang is the active, masculine side associated with fire?"

Ayaka glanced at Kaien. "Kurama, you've probably deduced this, but Kaien is a thief. While I favor your variety of theft—quiet and avoiding conflict,—Kaien prefers the more Hiei way of doing things—loudly and violently. We are each capable of doing the opposite, but it's a bit uncomfortable, as it's unnatural."

"Passive and aggressive…" Kurama looked up. "It would seem that you, Ayaka, are a physical manifestation of yin, and you, Kaien, are the materialization of yang. The idea is that yin and yang combine to form all that comes to be."

"Which is why the power of the lockets works best when we are calm and together," Ayaka replied.

"Yes. And you mentioned a place that makes them even more powerful. Am I right in guessing it's a place where all the elements meet?"

Ayaka snorted. "Of course you're right. But I still can't figure out how you make those leaps."

"Lots of practice… It sounds as though, with the lockets, you and Kaien have been singled out by some greater power to represent the forces of nature. Although I do not pretend to know the reason for this or its implications."

"It's all about the balance," Ayaka breathed. "Kaien and I,"

"Must work together. With a form of teamwork that is nearly impossible," Kaien finished.

"Will you quit finishing each others sentences?" Kuwabara asked. "It makes all this even more confusing."

"Just get over it. It's not going to happen," Hiei muttered.

Then Ayaka said, "Our speaking almost as one is simply another form of teamwork."

Then Kurama said one word. "Balance."

"Which is why what the lockets can do isn't frightening," Ayaka said, nodding.

"It's our lack of control that creates the problem," Kaien said.

"But it's a natural form of power," Kurama said after a silence. "All natural power is balanced. That's why a natural power as strong as that must be divided. Equilibrium. Everything in nature is balanced in some way. Without the necessity of working together, the power is ineffective and dangerous when the calm and balance is not achieved. But if one person could control it alone… it would be unnatural, unstable and dangerous with or without that tranquility."

Ayaka covered her mouth in a combination of horror and understanding. "The pendant."

* * *

Reviews...

Foxgirl Ray: Sorry you miss the YYH gang. The ayaka-kaien stuff is kind of important. Everything I include in this story will be important. Well, I'll try to make sure there's nothing superfluous.

animegrlsteph: yes. demon hobo. he'll come back! Eventually.


	18. Pendant

FCL64: Now, on to chapter eighteen.

Kiyoshi: Eighteen? Long story. It's just getting started. Quite often your stories are almost over by now.

FCL64: Be quiet.

* * *

_Kurama pov_

_1349 A.D._

_Suddenly Kuronue becomes sober. It drives me crazy when he does this. He'll be laughing one second and brooding the next. And it's the pendant. It's always the pendant._

"_It's been nearly a century," he says. "You're my best friend, Kurama."_

_Where is this coming from? He must mean how long we've worked together. "And you are mine." It is very odd to say those words out loud despite their truth. I chuckle, and he looks at me. "You are my only friend," I say, slightly embarrassed to be discussing such things. "And I could have done a lot worse in that area."_

_He grins. "My point is I trust you, Kurama. Whether or not that's a good idea." He reaches over and hands me the pendant. It is far heavier than it looks. "Do you feel its power?"_

_Yes. The raw power, energy courses through my hand and up my arm. Such a powerful artifact. What is it worth? "Yes," I say. How could I not feel its power?_

"_You cannot give it a price. It's value is immeasurable. And not for sentimental reasons." Of course he knows what I am thinking. But he isn't angry. It's my job—our job—to analyze artifacts such as this in this way. "But the power you feel. That is when it is dormant."_

"_Dormant?" This is fascinating. Such power._

"_You can invoke its true power, summon it."_

"_And what happens?"_

"_Without sufficient willpower, it can control you rather than the other way around. It drains your energy." He still isn't telling the whole story._

"_Kuronue, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine." But I want to know. I've always wanted to know. "I accepted decades ago that you'd tell me if you wanted to, but I don't feel it's required."_

"_I want to tell you," he murmurs, jumping up. "I just don't know how._

_Interesting. I wait rather impatiently as he paces back and forth, wings fluttering as though he wants to take off and fly away. _I want to know._ But I respect his silence and hold my tongue._

_Finally he says, "You use your aura to call on it, and it summons power. You do not need to decide this; it just happens. The energy is immense. No one could ever possess that much aura. That is why your will is necessary. You need to believe with your entire mind and being, you must be one hundred percent sure, completely confident that you can control it. If there is even the tiniest glimmer of doubt, you will be destroyed. And even if you have sufficient will, it still hits you like a ton of bricks going ninety miles an hour. Then you just have a single thought of where you want the energy to go, and it does. But it has only one purpose. To destroy."_

_He shakes his head. "I tried it once. Once you have seen its destruction, you never use it again. You do not forget it. You guard it fiercely, with your life if necessary, so a murderer does not get it."_

_I look at him seriously. "We are murderers, Kuronue."_

"_But we do not kill for the sake of killing. We may be murderers, but we are not psychopathic killers."_

_True. We start the raid quietly and only kill if cornered, which happens rarely but not never. We occasionally kill for information. But in those cases we _do_ have a tendency to go overboard. Slight torture is often involved. But that is hardly relevant. "What could possibly possess such a strong, negative energy?"_

"_Nothing," he says simply. "The stone draws all energy from its surroundings, taking it in as positive and emitting it as negative. Releasing it is only part of the destruction."_

"_What is the other part?"_

"_It leeches every last ounce of energy from every living thing within twenty meters in any direction. And without sufficient will, it sucks out all your energy too. And the more life it sucks out of the area, the harder it is to maintain enough will that you can control it. It kills everything, Kurama. It exists to destroy." I have never seen him so distressed._

"_Then why not destroy it?" I know when something is dangerous beyond the point where it should even exist. This thing definitely falls into that category. How could I have been in such close proximity to it for a century without realizing that?_

"_It has been tried by many. It cannot be done. The best we can do is keep it from those who would intentionally use it to destroy. And Kurama…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_The most frightening thing is how good and pure energy feels as it is funneled into this evil thing and how dark and sinister it feels when it emerges. It's unnatural."_

_1501 A.D._

_That locket. I don't feel I truly understand. Ayaka looks at us. "I could make it make sense if Kaien were here to help me." She clutches the locket tightly. While Kuronue's pendant had a power raging in it, Ayaka's was strangely calm. Not violent, somehow._

_Kuronue looks at me. I shrug. "That is up to you."_

_Ayaka groans, "I hate it when you guys do that."_

_Then Kuronue explains the power of his stone, the devastation it can cause, the way only one person is needed in comparison the two required for Ayaka's piece._

_Ayaka's face is a mask of horror._

_I do not blame her._

* * *

Now to the review... I hope you all found this chapter enlightening.

animegrlsteph: How do you like the explanation of the pendant?


	19. Separation

FCL64: Yes. Yes. We are here.

Kiyoshi: I know. I'm in your head.

FCL64: We are me. I am us.

Kiyoshi: Yes, that too.

FCL64: Is it bad that the people who said that, together, are more words than the actual quote? Matthew Swift and the blue electric angels.

Kiyoshi: You guys know who we own, and she just needs to stop talking.

* * *

After several tense moments, Ayaka said, "We know motive. We have the lockets and the pendant. He'll be coming soon, Kurama. All three pieces are together. Something tells me he won't like that."

"Yes," said Kaien. "First thing we need to do is find him."

"How are we supposed to find someone who can hide as effectively as he can?" Kurama asked. "And I don't think it's wise to seek this guy out. Not yet."

"Brilliant, Kaien," Ayaka said.

"What?" Yusuke asked. "Kurama just said it isn't possible, and now you say it's brilliant. What am I missing?"

Embarrassed, Ayaka laughed. Kaien said, "We can't hear each others thoughts."

"How is this relevant?" Yusuke asked.

Ayaka smiled. "We very rarely miss the other person's true meaning. Kaien didn't mean we should find him physically. That would be foolish. We may outnumber him, but right now he has the advantage. We can't track him, and he most likely knows more about us than we know about him. He is just waiting to strike. What Kaien meant is that we should find more information about him. Even he will have left a trail."

Kurama shook his head in disbelief. "You two are unbelievable." He glanced at Ayaka. "As easily as we worked together, it was still sometimes difficult. You two don't even need to try. And we had to look at one another to communicate without words. You guys just _know_." Only Ayaka knew he was referring to Kuronue, not her, when he used the plural.

She smiled. "No. We do argue though, just like any siblings."

"But it's only ever over stupid stuff," Kaien added.

Then Ayaka got serious. "Well, Kurama? You're the mastermind. How are we going to do this?"

Kurama frowned. "There are six of us. At this point, I'm thinking it will be best to split up. But it will also be best if we aren't alone. Groups of two."

Yusuke groaned. He already had a guess of what those groups were going to be.

Sure enough, Kurama continued, "Yusuke, Kuwabara, I want you to contact Koenma and Enki. I want any information they might have on a bounty hunter called Kyo."

"Got it," Kuwabara said.

"Hiei and I will contact Mukuro and Yomi to see if they know anything," Kurama said, "Which is actually a good bet given the positions they held for so long…" He trailed off. They waited for him to give Ayaka and Kaien instructions. But he didn't. Instead, he told them, "I've picked the tasks for the four of us based on who will be able to do what most effectively. You two are very important, but I haven't a clue as to where you fit in now."

Ayaka looked at Kaien. Kaien nodded to Ayaka. At the same moment they said, "Zuberi."

"Who?" Kurama asked.

"This old man who told us how to work the lockets. It's possible he's seen Kuronue's pendant. And if that's true, it's also possible Kyo has been to see him." Kurama flinched when she said Kuronue, but she ignored him and continued.

Then Yusuke asked, "Are you two positive you don't have ESP or whatever you want to call it?"

Kurama smiled. "Just drop it, Yusuke. Many twins share connections the rest of us cannot begin to understand. Everyone, be careful. Back here in one week."

"Give us two," Ayaka demanded. "Zuberi is this weird old hermit who's next to impossible to find."

Kurama hesitated. "Fine. But be careful. Kyo will probably target you, as two of the three are with you guys."

Ayaka nodded.

They all made preparations and departed.

As they entered the demon plane, Ayaka told Kaien, "There was a lot of tension between you and Kurama back there."

Kaien shook his head, unsurprised she had noticed. "It's a guy thing."

She punched him in the arm. "No it's not. It's a _fox_ thing." Her tail twitched. "Don't forget I'm a fox too. I can see when a territorial dispute is happening, even if the others couldn't. And it was going on the entire time you were there."

Kaien snorted. "I wasn't doing anything, and he was getting all defensive."

"He's very protective of the human family he lives with. And with someone of your background, not to mention what you are, do you blame him?"

Kaien smiled, brushing hair out of his eyes. "No."

There was silence for several minutes. Then Ayaka asked, "Kaien…what have you been doing since you and Hiei tried to kill each other?"

* * *

Well now that that chapter is done...should be fun next chapter, no?

Reviews:

animegrlsteph: Ummm...duh? It's _supposed_ to be creepy.


	20. Healed

Kiyoshi: You are a moron.

FCL64: I'm aware you think that. What is it this time?

Kiyoshi: This chapter is irrelevant to the story.

FCL64: No it's not. It teaches the readers more about Kaien. All they know about him so far has been told from a third person perspective or from Ayaka. Third person pov isn't very…informative about the person's thoughts, and Ayaka is more than a little biased.

Kiyoshi: *sigh* Well, we have partial ownership rights to Ayaka, Kaien and Kyo. Lori belongs to us. Zuberi belongs to us as well. At least once he comes back.

* * *

_Kaien pov_

_2007 A.D._

_Where am I? I've never seen this place before in my life. It's cramped in here. I sit up. Not a good idea. I lower myself back onto the bed. My gut hurts so bad. I always knew it wouldn't be fun to split ways. Hiei is a ruthless killer. Can't exactly say I'm much better myself, though. At least I care about someone though._

_Then again, Hiei has been looking for someone. A girl named Yukina. He never told me what she is to him though. Somehow, I wonder if the bond they share is similar to that between me and Ayaka. He gets moodier when she's around, mentions the name less frequently and looks away each time I say sister._

_That hardly matters now though. I wonder what happened to him, though. He isn't here. I just remember that at roughly the same time we both got one good hit in. After that, it was pointless to keep fighting. To try meant to die. I remember I fell, and before he could reach me to kill me, he hit the ground too._

_I groan. Suddenly a woman appears. "Oh, you're awake. That's good. The other man left yesterday." That's embarrassing. I slept longer than him. She continues, ignorant of my mortification at the thought that Hiei was stronger than me. "Although, I probably shouldn't have let him go. He woke up and, after only four hours, took off. I do not understand. Two days of sleep is not enough to heal those kinds of wounds." She goes about the room, doing who knows what, always talking. "Two and a half really isn't enough either. I hope you stay a bit longer. I don't want you to harm yourself. What happened to the two of you? The other man wouldn't say."_

_Hiei wouldn't talk. Go figure. "We had a…business disagreement."_

"_You were fighting each other?" she sounds horrified. "Over business?"_

_I nod, smiling. She hands me a bowl and a spoon. This is very odd. Am I dreaming? Or am I dead? I make no movement to eat, and she frowns at me. "You won't get better if you don't eat. What is your name, anyway?"_

"_Kaien."_

"_That's nice. I'm Lori. I found the two of you bleeding out in my backyard."_

"_I didn't see any houses nearby," I mutter, still not eating. There could be poison. Years of the work I do have taught me that it is best not to eat or drink anything if you do not see it prepared._

"_Well, yes. I don't live near there, exactly, but it's still my property."_

_I look at her. She looks almost human. The only things that would set her apart from the are her bright orange eyes and turquoise hair. Lori…hmmm… I sit. Oh, that hurts. But as she said, I won't get better if I don't eat. And I won't eat if I don't know what's in the food. I do not let the pain show on my face. She still frowns in disapproval. Then she reaches over, dips the spoon into the bowl and takes a bite. "Satisfied? It's not poisoned. Now just eat the stuff."_

_Heh. She is something. I slowly sniff the soup. I doesn't smell dangerous, at least. Not that that means anything. I carefully take a bite. It's still hot. She sits and watches me. Suddenly she says, "You have the bluest eyes I have ever seen in my life."_

"_And?" I ask._

"_I find it odd. I have never before met a fox demon. I was not expecting you to look so…normal. Yet you do look normal. Your hair is an ordinary color. Your eyes do not glint in strange shades.""_

_Like her eyes are an ordinary color. "And on whose appearance did you base your assumptions?" I have a guess…which actually makes this whole conversation much more entertaining._

"_The thief Kurama," she replies without hesitation. That's what I thought. "I've heard of his silver hair and golden eyes, as well as the strange bat demon, Kuronue I think, he works with. Oh, and the girl. I don't remember her name, but I guess she is a fox demon as well." She certainly likes to gossip._

"_Her name is Ayaka," I tell Lori._

"_Yes, that's it. You've heard of them then? Word is the three of them have disappeared and are planning a bigger heist than ever before." Definitely gossip._

"_I cannot speak for Kurama, but Kuronue has been dead for many years now. Kurama and Ayaka's partnership fell apart after that." How upset Ayaka was about both the death and the way she and Kurama could no longer work together effectively._

_Lori's eyes are wide. "Really? Where did you hear this?"_

_I laugh. "From Ayaka herself. She's my sister." I find this woman odd._

_Lori is on her feet in an instant backing away from me. At least as far as she can in this crowded space. "Please, do not harm me. I did nothing but good for you. I will keep Kuronue's death to myself if you will just let me live."_

_I laugh. Watching people get nervous has always made me laugh. "It would be ungrateful of me to kill you, Lori. And I do not care if you tell anyone. It hardly matters to me. The only way I am involved is as a comfort to my sister. However let me offer some advice: move away from here."_

"_What?" she asks. "I can't do that. This is my childhood home."_

"_If you do not want to die, I suggest you leave. While Kurama, Kuronue and Ayaka try to avoid conflict, Hiei and I are not so…peaceful. If word gets out you helped us, your life will be in danger." There. I have warned her. If she chooses not to leave, it is not on my hands._

_She looks at me. "Can I come with you?"_

"_What?"_

"_I have nowhere else to go. Can I come with you?"_

_I look into her bright orange eyes. "You would not like my business. I see you care about others. You would find what I do repulsive." I stand, my gut still aching. "Now I must be going."_

_She frowns. "Take care."_

_Now business as usual._

_2010 A.D._

_What fun. A fight to the death to see who becomes king of the demon plane. I am not entering. That would be foolish. I know I am not strong enough to even hope to beat many of these people. Maybe if Ayaka and I were allowed to work together. But this tournament will give me a chance to see what kind of…leadership I will be up against. I am, after all, a criminal._

_I only recognize a few of these names. Yomi and Mukuro of course. Hiei. He must have improved a great deal to be doing so well. Then Kurama…if it is the same Kurama, I find it odd that he is coming out into the open like this. Particularly since most think he is dead or in hiding._

_But there are many serious contenders whose names I do not recognize. Yusuke, Raizen's son I believe. A man named Enki and his wife Kokoh, old friends of Raizen's I guess. Several others connected to Raizen. Then a group who were allied with Yomi until someone came up with this completely unorthodox plan._

_And my dear sister Ayaka. Perhaps no one else can see it's not your true form, dearest sister, but I can. Aka. My, my. How uncreative. I shall be praying you don't die._

* * *

Okay, on to reviews...

animegrlsteph: yep. Love Yusuke right there.

Foxgirl Ray: Yes...the pendant is kind of over the top. But I was at a loss for what it should be able to do (and its having power is very important for the story). And that's pretty much what came from it. Should make the story interesting.

And thanks to White Rose Fox for the reviews to previous chapters.


	21. Questions

FCL64: We have returned! With chapter twenty one!

Kiyoshi: There's a miracle if I ever saw one…

FCL64: Shut up.

Kiyoshi: You know something I noticed?

FCL64: What?

Kiyoshi: You've been ignoring me a lot lately because "Anna writes herself," so you don't need my help on that story. The moment you stop ignoring me, you have inspiration for this story.

FCL64: There you go Kiyoshi. Forensic evidence that you write this story, not me. Happy?

Kiyoshi: It's not forensic evidence…

FCL64: Whatever. This chapter, Kiyoshi and I own quite a few people. The primary ones are Ayaka, Kaien and Kyo (owned in part by animegrlsteph). The ones we own all on our own (none of whom are actually in this chapter, just mentioned by name) are Zuberi, Lori and Xanthippus (pronunciation: zan (rhymes with van)- tip (rhymes with rip)- us (rhymes with…us)) Say it with me! Xanthippus!

Kiyoshi: Now moving on to the story after a half page of useless rambling from us…

* * *

As Kaien was telling Ayaka what his life had been since he and Hiei had split ways, Yusuke and Kuwabara were arguing with Koenma.

"Absolutely not," Koenma said. "All of Reikai's files are classified. Even as Spirit detective, Yusuke, you only have access to the criminal files. If we even have any files on this man you call Kyo, in all likelihood you wouldn't have the necessary clearance."

"You're the king of the Underworld," Yusuke snapped back, placing his palms on Koenma's desk and leaning forward. "Couldn't you bypass that, overrule it?"

"I could," Koenma replied, "but I won't."

"Why not?" Yusuke shouted, pushing himself away from Koenma and pacing angrily around the office.

Before Koenma could respond, Kuwabara asked, "Would it change anything if we told you he was the one who killed Kuronue, Kurama's old partner?"

"No," Koenma answered firmly.

"What if we told you there was a third member of that group, a girl named Ayaka?" Yusuke asked forcefully. "What if we told you she has a twin brother, Kaien? What if we told you that if one of them dies, the other will unintentionally cause massive amounts of damage, possibly in the human world? Would _that_ change your mind?"

"As worrisome as I find that, I don't see how it's related."

"What if," Kuwabara asked slowly, "we told you Kyo wants to kill Kurama, Ayaka and Kaien?"

"Kill?" Koenma asked shocked.

"Yes," Yusuke snapped. "Kill. Murder. Do in. Assassinate. Off. Send to hell."

"_Why_?"

"Kuronue had a pendant that can cause great destruction. He gave it to Kurama as he was dying. Ayaka and Kaien have lockets with immense power. Somehow Kyo knows this and wants them dead for it."

Koenma looked at each of the teenagers before him for a long while before saying, "I'll see what I can do."

"Okay. Good. We'll be back in a few days," Yusuke said, suddenly in a much better mood.

"Wait, where are you going?" Koenma asked.

"As a group, we're visiting the people most likely to have information on this guy. Kurama and Hiei are talking to Yomi and Mukuro. Kuwabara and I are supposed to talk to you and Enki. Ayaka and Kaien are going to see a man named Zuberi."

"Zuberi…" Koenma muttered. "Where have I heard that name before…?"

* * *

"Kurama." Yomi's voice was as close to being surprised as it ever got. "To what do I owe this…pleasure?"

"To death. A man called Kyo wants me, one of my friends and her brother dead," Kurama answered calmly. With Yomi, it was often best to be straightforward; his intelligence rivaled Kurama's, and in the past thousand years his patience had developed. He was very much like Kurama on the intellectual field. And Kurama knew that it was useless to beat around the bush.

"And how do you expect me to help?"

"We know his name and what he looks like, nothing more. We need to know more if we hope to kill him."

"Why have you come to me, as opposed to Enki or Koenma?" Yomi sounded almost bored, but Kurama knew him well enough to tell he had captured his old partner's interest.

"Yusuke is speaking with Koenma and Enki. However, Kyo is a demon. Koenma has only limited knowledge of affairs of the demon plane. Enki has not been in power long. You, on the other hand, were long in a powerful position in the demon plane."

"Yusuke is speaking with Koenma and Enki," Yomi repeated. "Am I wrong in assuming that that means the two of you are seeking help from both Mukuro and myself?"

Hiei's eyes narrowed. He knew that the likelihood that he would ever trust this man was zero, possibly less. Neither did Kurama truly trust him, but that had always been the nature of their relationship. "That is correct," Kurama said. They walked the empty halls of Yomi's palace, and he spoke.

"The demon called Kyo was a powerful bounty hunter. However, roughly four hundred and fifty years ago, he simply disappeared. Vanished into thin air. All his work at hunting criminals ceased. There were rumors that he had been killed by one of his targets." Yomi smiled slyly. "Supposedly the fox demon. But it was truly the other way around."

He paused, waiting for a reaction. Kurama didn't respond, and his face remained inscrutable. Yomi sensed that Kurama was unperturbed and continued, still with a slight grin on his face, "Rumor also had it that he was the one responsible for Kuronue's death." Kurama's face hardened, and it was evident Yomi sensed his distress. However, Yomi went on as though nothing was wrong, "The only other thing I can tell you is his profession. He was not always a bounty hunter. Up until about seven hundred and fifty years ago, he wasn't. His original trade was a metalworker and jeweler."

"Jeweler?" Kurama asked, glancing significantly at Hiei, who nodded in response. By now, Kurama had regained his composure, and Yomi could sense no physical reaction from Kurama, only the vague interest in his voice. Even now he and Kurama were involved in a match of wits.

"Yes," he replied. "Jeweler. I am sorry I have nothing more for you."

"Thank you," Kurama said slowly. "You have been…most helpful."

"I suppose you won't be gracing us with your presence at dinner tonight?" It was a very guarded invitation, given only for the sake of etiquette. Kurama and Hiei both knew they were not truly welcome.

After briefly contemplating accepting Yomi's offer, just for the sake of adding some interest to the match, Kurama said, "Thank you but no. We must be going. We won't intrude on your hospitality any longer."

Yomi nodded. "So be it, Kurama. Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again," Kurama muttered at Yomi's retreating back.

As they left, Hiei asked, "Hospitality?"

Kurama grinned wryly, the look almost reminiscent of Yomi's only a short time before. "Our relationship has always been a push and pull of intelligence, patience and cunning. It used to be he was too hotheaded to match me because my patience and calm far outstripped his own. But now…now his patience has increased, and the game is much more complicated."

"Is there really any good reason I should trust you any more than I trust him?" Hiei muttered.

Kurama glanced at him. "Probably not."

* * *

_Three days later…_

"Hey, Enki," Yusuke said.

"Yusuke," Enki said in surprise. "It's been a while."

Yusuke chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. You know my life is in the human world. It ain't exactly an easy trip from there to here."

"True." Enki smiled.

"Is he always this…easy-going?" Kuwabara muttered.

"Pretty much," Yusuke replied easily. "Enki, Kuwabara. Kuwabara, Enki."

Enki nodded to Kuwabara. "Pleased to meet you." Kuwabara nodded back, still bewildered. Nearly all of the demons he'd ever met had tried to kill him at one point or another. "Well, Yusuke," Enki said. "Shall we discuss your reason for arriving unannounced over lunch? I assume this isn't merely a social visit."

"Sounds like a plan."

Twenty minutes later, over a simple lunch of sandwiches, Yusuke asked, "Are you aware that, outside of the tournament, Kurama and I are friends, and that Hiei, while not a _friend_, is a fairly reliable ally in times of need?"

"I know it now. Go on."

Yusuke explained the situation, hardly touching his food. He finished with, "We need information on Kyo. We thought you might be able to help."

"How long can you give me?" Enki asked.

Yusuke looked at Kuwabara. "You're the one who's actually going to finish high school. How many days does that give us?"

"Two weeks…fourteen days…" Kuwabara muttered. "Assuming it will take us three days to get back to Koenma, we can give you a week," he said, venturing to address Enki directly.

Enki thought it over briefly before he said, "I will contact some people. You said Kurama and Hiei were going to see Yomi and Mukuro? Okay. I don't know how much information I can get you in such a short amount of time."

"That's fine. Anything at all is good," Yusuke replied, leaning back in his chair. He caught sight of the sandwich he had taken only one bite of. He grabbed it, nearly swallowed it whole and quickly caught up to the number of sandwiches Kuwabara and Enki had each eaten.

* * *

"Why exactly are you annoying me with your troubles?" Mukuro asked. "I think I missed that part."

Hiei glared at her. "I'm not in the mood, Mukuro. Three days ago I had to hold my silence when Kurama was speaking with Yomi. I like him even less than I like you, and I'm still in a bad mood."

"Last time we met, you were in no position to order me around," she replied mildly, a wicked grin on her face. "And you have given me no incentive to help you."

"I have not been sitting around all day since we last met." It was an obvious attack on Mukuro's day to day habits, and her eyes narrowed. Hiei, too, glared as he continued, "Incentive: Kurama has a pendant that could destroy you on his slightest whim. If you value your life…"

Kurama's eyes flashed to Hiei. Suggesting he could control the pendant was a huge gamble. But the look on Mukuro's face, a glare they all knew she was using to mask a slight fear, told Kurama Hiei's bluff had worked. "Well?" he asked calmly.

Mukuro's glare never once broke as she sat on her throne and explained, "Kyo was long a powerful bounty hunter. But for much longer, he was a jeweler. He specialized in powerful artifacts. For a price he would set any stone or gem into any kind of metal to make any kind of jewelry. His work on creating such…trinkets all but ceased when he became a bounty hunter." Her eyes glinted in the low light.

Kurama raised his eyebrows. "What are you not telling us, Mukuro?"

She cocked her head to one side. With her eyes locked on Kurama, both her voice and her eyes dead, she said, "There was another man. When Kyo was still a jeweler, it was his apprentice. When he became a bounty hunter, that same man became his partner. He was called Xanthippus."

"What information do you have on him?" Hiei demanded.

"I have heard he was nearly as talented at setting stones as Kyo himself. But word is that when they turned to bounty hunting, he would scry their targets in a diamond he set himself, gathering information. Kyo would scry with him occasionally but did not possess his talent for the art. Kyo would then take the information Xanthippus had obtained from his diamond. He would use it to take down their target before they had a chance to fight back. Xanthippus himself remains a mystery. He hides in the shadows, watching and waiting. Unheard, unseen, his presence unfelt by those he is watching." Mukuro's eyes were analyzing every emotion that passed across the faces of the two men in front of her.

"In other words," Kurama muttered, "We have not one but two people to kill, and Xanthippus is an unknown quantity and invisible on top of that."

A wicked grin replaced the blankness that had previously covered Mukuro's features. "Yes." She called to her guards. "See them out."

* * *

"What will we do if Zuberi has moved, Kaien?"

"Go back to Kurama's. If he has left, it could take months, years, even decades to find him. It took us ten years to find him last time."

"I suppose." They walked toward the place they had found Zuberi seven hundred and ninety seven years before. They reached the house and found it charred and collapsing in on itself. "What happened here?" Ayaka asked in horror.

"Fire?" Kaien asked.

Ayaka rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got that one. I meant intentional or sporadic? And if intentional, demonic flame or matches? Can you give me an answer to that?"

"It wasn't demonic flames. The destruction isn't great enough. The house would be completely gone if that were the case. However…I couldn't tell you if it was arson or spontaneous combustion." He grinned, his ears twitching in amusement.

"Our lives possibly hang on us finding this man, and you're making jokes," Ayaka muttered. "Typical." After a moment staring at the destruction, Kaien turned to leave, but Ayaka grabbed his arm in a viselike grip, her claws digging into his forearm. "Wait."

"What?" he asked.

"You and Hiei killed everyone, which resulted in having all the time in the world to collect the treasure inside. Kurama, Kuronue and I analyzed and snuck in. It was vital to notice details with a glance."

"You're point being?"

"While you didn't notice it, I saw the piece of paper. The small, white, _unburned_ slip of paper." She pointed with her free hand to a small glint of white peeking from the ashes.

Kaien smiled. "You would notice that. Ayaka?"

"Yes?"

"Could you let go? My arm is starting to hurt. I may be a fox too, but that doesn't mean your claws don't hurt."

"Oh, sorry."

They stepped carefully through the doorway, across the burned door itself. Ayaka picked up the slip of paper. "_For he will never leave/His daughter strong and pure/To aid you in your quest/He leaves you these clues four:_"

Ayaka handed it to Kaien who looked it over a moment before saying, "Does that mean there are more papers?"

Ayaka nodded. "Probably."

They dug through the ashes of the abandoned hut eventually coming up with four more slips of paper. Ayaka quickly organized them into the most logical order. Kaien then read aloud, "_If you're seeking the one/Who can read in the stone/He has moved, he has left/You're too late, he is gone. There is nothing left here/After he left this place/The invisible trail/Leaves but one single trace. For this is a riddle/And its answer rings true/With orange and turquoise/Zuberi waits for you. For he will never leave/His daughter strong and pure/To aid you in your quest/He leaves you these clues four: You've met her already, for a start/Unlike many, she stays true to her heart/Her hair and her eyes set her apart/And healing is not a forgotten art._"

"That doesn't sound like any riddle I've ever heard or seen," Ayaka muttered. "And I've seen a lot of riddles. I've solved a lot of riddles and broken a lot of codes. It is obvious there is something more going on with this riddle than meets the eye, but I can't think what."

"As usual, you're overanalyzing, Ayaka." Kaien smiled. "It is so simple it almost makes me want to laugh."

"Explain."

"He's with his daughter. At least one of us has met her, and he knows that. She is a healer. Her hair and her eyes set her apart. Earlier in the riddle, if you can really call it that, he mentions the colors orange and turquoise."

Ayaka shook her head, a look somewhere between confused and amused on her face. "No… you don't think…? Is it really that simple?"

Kaien nodded. "Let's go see Lori."

* * *

Hurrah! Onto reviews. Sorry that this chapter was a little...weird.

Foxgirl Ray: Here's the next one (already?). Yes...Kaien is quite...interesting. Glad you liked seeing what he's been doing.

White Rose Fox: Thanks for the awesome!

animegrlsteph: glad you enjoyed Kaien's pov. I wasn't sure...


	22. Attacked

Kiyoshi: Why did you write this chapter?

FCL64: This chapter is important! Important information!

Kiyoshi: But why here? It seems kind of unrelated…

FCL64: It was time for a flashback chapter, and this one fit best.

Kiyoshi: I see. Well, we own Ayaka, Kaien, Kyo, Lori, Xanthippus and Zuberi, even though only two of them are in this chapter, and the first three are shared with animegrlsteph. Here's the chapter.

FCL64: WAIT!

Kiyoshi: What?

FCL64: Although it's not vital to the understanding of the chapter, the reading will be smoother if I remind you (the readers) what a core is. I don't know if you'll remember it (it was mentioned once in the entire series), but it's the demonic equivalent of a heart (the organ, not the figurative heart that controls emotions).

Kiyoshi: Wow…

* * *

_1854 A.D._

_Kaien POV_

"_The black market is one of the best things ever created," I say, the money we've earned in pouches at our sides._

_Hiei's nod is terse. This is one of those times that I get the feeling that he doesn't really like me, he just tolerates me. Which suits me just fine. I don't like him either. But our goals are the same. And it's always good to know someone's got your back. Strange that such a sense of security can come from partnering with someone you know you can't truly trust._

_However…it's odd the way we work together. Very little is ever said beyond choosing a target and a date. Then there's the girl he's searching for, Yukina. He won't tell me who she is. Where he wants to search strongly influences the locations we target._

_Then we speak when we argue. All I can say is that it's good we don't argue a lot. When we do argue, it nearly always comes to blows. All that can be said for that is that we both possess enough self-control not to use our fire or our swords. If that weren't the case, at least one of us would have been dead long ago._

_It has always seemed strange to me that Ayaka and I are opposites but can get along so well, while Hiei and I, so similar, cannot seem to truly agree on anything. Close enough that our partnership works, but not enough that we don't get into fights. Perhaps we are _too_ similar._

_What's that whirring sound? I instinctively drop to the ground. At the same moment, Hiei does the same._

_A thick arrow plunges deep into a tree several feet away. Hiei flashes to it and is back next to me, laying in the underbrush. He shows it to me. "Dipped in poison. Even a flesh wound would have killed you in less than a minute."_

"_But who wants me dead, how did they find us, and where are they now?" Hiei doesn't have an answer._

_We lay there for several hours before easing our way up to a crouch. My ears twitch. The forest is too quiet. And something smells off. Whirr. I jerk back and only narrowly avoid another arrow. "Patient," I murmur. "Ayaka is the only person I've met who has such patience."_

"_I certainly do not possess it." Yes, I'm aware. Of course, I'm not much better._

"_Hiei, stand up." He looks at me as though I'm crazy, so I say, "You're fast enough to dodge, and both arrows have been aimed at me." He stands._

_After nearly a minute he mutters, "What could someone possibly have against you that they don't have against me?"_

_I look at him. "I committed very few crimes before I met you. Back then, Ayaka had more influence over me. No one ever saw me, and even if they had, I had taken on a different form."_

"_Could anyone have a grudge on Ayaka that they are taking out on you?" Why would he even ask that?_

"_Ayaka is even better at disappearing than I am. You know that, Hiei." But…something about that seems right. Is there some connection to Ayaka? But what? She isn't stupid enough to go in, be seen and still leave people alive. Then again…the three of them never killed unless cornered. When she said that, did she mean actually, physically cornered, not simply seen? I haven't thought about it before, but they must have been seen to have such high prices on their heads. They must have been seen several times for those after them to have such accurate descriptions._

"_You have doubts, Kaien," Hiei mutters. Yes, Hiei. Thank you. I know that._

"_It's related to Ayaka," I whisper back. "But not because of our crimes. There's some other connection."_

"_Other than the fact that she's your sister?" I glare. He ignores me and says, "We must find him." The _eliminate_ goes unsaid._

_We stand cautiously and move toward the place the arrows came from, darting from tree to tree. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of maroon. There is a flash and a knife embeds itself in the tree behind where I was standing a second before. It's hard to hit a moving target, especially when the target isn't moving at a constant speed. Unfortunately, that knife is exactly at core height. Whoever's after me…he's good._

_That dark pink, almost red again. That's him. Or her. Him. I've never seen a girl that tall. He's found me. He knows exactly where I am. And he knows where I'm headed. Well, I think he knows where I'm headed as he's running _exactly parallel_ to me._

_I stop. After a few more steps, he stops too. Before another projectile is sent my way, I shout, "Come out and face me like you meant it! Quit hiding in the shadows and kill me with some honor!"_

_A dark chuckle precedes him as he steps from the trees. A large bow is slung across his back, along with a quiver loaded with the poison arrows. He has at least three daggers similar to the first. But that's just what's visible. I've learned through experience—and often through practice—that what's visible and what's available are two completely different things. Then we haven't the slightest clue as to if he possesses any demonic tricks he can use, much less what they are._

_His overall appearance is odd. Beneath that dark pink-red hair are eyes that almost look purple and almost look black. He's about half an inch shorter than me but still taller than many. But pound for pound, he would outweigh me because he is built thicker than me. Except for his fingertips and the area around his eyes and ears, no skin is visible. A black headband holds his ear-length hair out of his eyes and conceals his forehead. His mouth and neck are also covered in black. He has thick, black leather boots on, and every other inch of him, right down to his fingerless gloves is concealed in black._

_I place my hand on my sword. "Who are you?"_

"_Your sister asked me the same thing. I am Kyo." Ayaka. Calm, Kaien. She isn't dead. I would know. But that means he's after her as well._

"_Why do you want us dead?"_

"_Personally, your lives mean nothing to me. I really don't care if you live or die."_

"_Then why try to kill me?"_

"_I am not a fool. I know you won't part with the locket you carry unless I kill you first." The locket? That's what he's after? But it's an almost symbolic connection to Ayaka._

"_Never," I spit._

"_See?" he says, pulling a knife out. My hand tightens on my sword, and Hiei appears next to me, his hand gripping the hilt of his katana. Kyo pauses. "This is why I wished to attack you from a distance. I did not wish to deal with two of you. Last time I tried something such as that, I came away worse than my target. Your sister, aided by Kurama," he adds helpfully._

"_Leave, or we will kill you," Hiei threatens._

_Kyo looks at him, eyes calm. "I've heard a demon called Eight-Hands knows something of an Ice Maiden." Ice Maiden? Is that Yukina? I always got the impression that it was his sister…evidently not._

"_Scum," Hiei hisses, lunging forward._

_Kyo reacts in an instant, somehow dodging Hiei's sword. But it leads him toward mine. And as I go in, he whips up his hand and begins to parry my attacks with a _ten-inch knife_. That shouldn't even be possible. Not only that, but he's using his right hand to ward off Hiei. How can he do such things?_

_Suddenly, in one fluid movement, he stops blocking, takes several steps back at a speed faster than I have seen Hiei travel and throws his knife at me._

_I do not have time to dodge. Not at this distance. I do somehow manage to move just enough that it doesn't hit any vital organs; it lodges itself in my left shoulder instead. Some comfort. I grit my teeth and face him. The knives aren't poisoned; best to leave it in for now. It will stop at least some of the blood flow._

_But I don't need to fight. Hiei's sword is protruding from Kyo's right leg. He used Kyo's temporary distraction during his attack on me to get a good hit in. "He deflected my blow." Hiei glares. "But not well enough." _

_Kyo falls to the ground, and Hiei withdraws his sword. It appears he has hit the femoral artery. If the man does not receive treatment soon, he will die. For a moment, Hiei looks as though he would skewer Kyo through the core. But there is something in those eyes. Hiei sees it too. Even now, with that fatal wound, he is a threat, and he knows it. He has some ace up his sleeve. If Hiei kills him, our lives will be in danger. But how could a dead man pose such a threat?_

_Hiei steps back and faces me. "He can bleed out. Perhaps a longer, more drawn out death is what he deserves. Let's go."_

"_Two minutes." I tear parts of my shirt up. Then I clench my teeth together and rip out the dagger. As the blood begins to flow, I quickly bind it with the rags, using my teeth to pull the knot tight. Then Hiei and I run, leaving him bleeding on the ground._

_Unfortunately, I have a sick feeling that we have not succeeded in killing him._

_I have this gut instinct that is telling me he will be back._

* * *

What fun. Thought you guys might want to know what happened when Kyo attacked Kaien. And there you have it. It may all seem disjointed now...but it will all come together eventually, I promise. Here are the reviews.

animegrlsteph: Here's more. Although this is the last chapter I have prewritten...that could become a problem if I don't pick up the pace.

Foxgirl Ray: Glad you saw that Lori would be coming back because I definitely didn't. Particularly not this soon. Hmmm... I guess I'll just step back and let Kiyoshi write this story like he normally does, then.

White Rose Fox: Glad you like it!


	23. Answers

FCL64: What's up?

Kiyoshi: Well, you're finally writing the next chapter. That's all that's really important at this point.

FCL64: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm aware it's been forever since I wrote this story. I believe the readers know the (rather complicated) ownership situation. Here's the story.

* * *

_Five days later…_

"Kaien?" Ayaka asked. "What are you thinking about?"

Kaien's response came slowly. "When Kyo attacked me, Hiei injured him. The wound was bad enough that it should have killed him. We could have killed him easily right then." He didn't look at his sister as they walked, but she could see the worry written on his face.

And that unnerved her. She knew Kaien rarely worried over anything; he remained calm and just let everything happen. "So why didn't you?" she asked.

"Hiei was about to. But then we both got this feeling that things would be worse for us if we killed him. And I was injured. I felt the quicker we got out of there, the better."

Ayaka nodded. "We'll figure it out, Kaien."

"I just fear we have lost our only opportunity to kill him." Kaien's blue eyes flashed towards Ayaka.

"Kaien, you and Hiei alone almost killed him. Now it's the two of us, Hiei, Kurama and Yusuke. And Kuwabara, although I'm not sure how a human could hope to stand up in a situation such as this. All the same, there are six of us to the one of him. He can be killed."

"But I feel like there's something we don't know, some key piece of information we are missing."

"That's why we're here, Kaien," Ayaka said, indicating the house he had led her to.

He smiled. "Let's hope this helps."

He knocked on the door. In less than a minute it flew open to reveal turquoise hair and orange eyes. She saw Ayaka and Kaien, and those orange orbs widened in surprise or fear. She took a step back. "I haven't told anyone Kuronue is dead, I swear it!" she said quickly.

"Relax, Lori," Kaien said gently. "We are here to speak with Zuberi."

Relief covered her face. "Oh. Okay. I'll grab him, and we can speak outside. There really isn't enough space for four people inside."

"I noticed that last time," Kaien smiled.

Suddenly the old demon appeared behind her. "Who is it, Lori?"

"Kaien and…Ayaka?" She looked at Ayaka for confirmation. Ayaka nodded.

"Ah," Zuberi said. "Lori, I want you to stay inside. I must discuss something dangerous with these two. I do not want you involved with this."

She looked at him for a long moment. "Yes, Father," she finally said. She allowed Zuberi to pass, then went back inside.

He faced Ayaka and Kaien, his clouded eyes staring out past them. "My daughter is a sweet girl, but she shouldn't have any part in this. She has already become too involved, simply by healing you Kaien."

"Then why are you staying with her?" Kaien asked.

"She has already endangered herself. She will be safer if I am here."

"Well, that's good," Ayaka said. "How did you know we would come to see you?"

"A few years after you two came to see me, another man came to see me. He had a powerful stone, one that rivals your lockets when they are connected. Dangerous things, dangerous things…" he mused. After nearly a minute, he went on, "At any rate, you know I can tell what these things do. However, there are other things I can tell from these stones. The piece I just spoke of—"

Ayaka interrupted him, "Kuronue's pendant. We know of it. You can use names."

He didn't blink upon learning that they knew of the pendant. "Well, it was the fourth highly dangerous piece I had come across that had been set by the same person, counting the lockets as one piece. I found this man, this jeweler called Kyo, and told him to stop making such things. He was not aware of the abilities of these pieces, which shocked me. Later, I discovered he was killing those in possession of these things. I did not feel that any of the people who showed me the things he had created posed a serious threat, but it was only a matter of time before he set a stone for someone who would use it for a wicked purpose."

"What can you tell us of him?"

"He has a partner. I do not know this man's name. However, their teamwork is flawless, and they gather information before attacking. I do not truly know anything else. I simply guessed you would eventually come to speak with me again."

"Thank you," Kaien said. "We appreciate the help."

"One last thing," Zuberi said as they turned to leave. "I do not know how it is set, but Kyo also possesses a powerful gem. It is also dangerous. Not in the same way your lockets or Kuronue's pendant are dangerous. Rather, it provides him with a protection somehow. So it is dangerous in that he will be very difficult to injure."

"Thanks," Kaien said, a dark look passing between him and Ayaka.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Enki looked at Yusuke. "Nothing, Yusuke. I'm sorry. I've done all I could think of, and no one has heard anything of a bounty hunter called Kyo."

"Ah, well," Yusuke sighed. "He's good at staying under the radar, we already knew that. This is just more proof. With any luck, Kurama, Hiei, Ayaka and Kaien will have uncovered something. And if not, it isn't like we've lost information on him. See you."

"Thanks for stopping by," Enki said. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

* * *

_Three days later…_

"Koenma?" Yusuke asked.

"Ah, Yusuke. I was wondering when you'd be back. I don't have much, but I did find something." Koenma stopped.

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Well, I need to hear it anyway."

"Okay, if you insist," Koenma sighed. "Kyo is a registered bounty hunter."

"What?" Kuwabara asked.

"In 1267, Kyo was granted a license to kill by Reikai. He is a legal bounty hunter. He is allowed full use of his demonic skills in the capture of dangerous criminals in the human world."

"So what?" Yusuke asked. "That doesn't mean he can just go around killing anybody he wants to."

Koenma shook his head. "I know it doesn't. But the last job Kyo took from Reikai was to catch Kurama, Ayaka and Kuronue, dead or alive."

"Are you saying…?" Kuwabara asked slowly, as Koenma's meaning dawned on him.

Koenma nodded. "Legally, he has every right to capture and or kill Kurama and Ayaka. Since Reikai has no way to contact him and tell him the job is no longer necessary, he has no reason to stop. And if he succeeds…we will still have to pay him all that money, even though it was promised to him in 1522."

After a long silence, Yusuke said, "Question: could you give us legal permission to kill him? Find some loophole that would make his death…condonable? You know…level the playing field a bit?"

Koenma looked at him a moment. Finally he nodded. "I can arrange that."

* * *

Arriving back at Kurama's house two days later, everyone was relieved to see everyone else alive. Kurama was particularly relieved to see Ayaka alive. Last time they had parted ways, he had been told she was dead and almost lost his life.

* * *

End of chapter. Time for reviews. Yay!

animegrlsteph: yeah, he ticks me off too...

White Rose Fox: Glad you liked it! :)


	24. Goodbyes

FCL64: KIYOSHI! GET OUT HERE! NOW!

Kiyoshi: (from behind a door) No.

FCL64: YES. (opens door, drags Kiyoshi out, ties him to a chair). Now write this chapter. You've been talking about it. You know what happens. You just won't tell me in enough detail for me to write it down! Now go!

Kiyoshi: Grrr…

FCL64: Oh shut up. We've kept them waiting long enough, and this chapter isn't going to be very long (sorry about both of those things). You can suffer through writing one chapter.

Kiyoshi: I hate you.

FCL64: And you started writing a new story! So I know you are not lacking in inspiration! I have more reason to hate you right now than you have to hate me!

Kiyoshi: You tied me to a chair.

* * *

_1587 A.D._

_Kurama pov_

"_Kurama. We need to talk."_

_I look up at Ayaka. "Sure."_

"_This isn't going to work anymore Kurama."_

"_What won't work?"_

_She moves so that we are both on the same side of the fire. "Our partnership. We can no longer work together effectively."_

"_Yes we can. We have never failed a raid when working together."_

_That's true. But it's not the same without…without… There has never been a time when Ayaka was there when he was not. It just…I see her, and I am forcibly reminded of the empty space where he should be sitting. Well…assuming he could ever sit still for more than a few seconds. Why must it be so painful to think of such things? It's been six decades. The pain should be fading by now. But each time I think of him…whether of the way he died…or something small, like how he could never sit still…the pain comes back, like it was never gone._

"_Kurama…we haven't gone on many raids since…since that day. In the past sixty years we've been on less than one hundred raids. That's only slightly more than one per year. Before…before we had an average of around one each month."_

"_You want to pick up the number of raids?" Those are the worst times. We occasionally have to go on raids, for various reasons. But raids were the one thing Ayaka never tried to force her way into. If one of us felt a two-man raid would be better, she easily sat back and waited for us. It was never a problem. We never left her out on purpose, but occasionally our targets required a two rather than three-man team._

"_No. You can't look at me without thinking of him. He was always there. I never knew you without him right there. You never saw me without him close by."_

_Why does it hurt so much to hear her voice my own sentiments aloud? Why is it so painful to see her sitting there, nearly knee length hair in a knot on her head with the empty space around us? Why does this aching sadness never go away, even after more than half a century? I can't find a response to her words because everything she has said is completely true._

"_Goodbye, Kurama." She stands and walks away, back into the forest. It's almost exactly the opposite of what she looked like the first time we…I saw her. She walked out of woods quite similar to these, and now she disappears back into them. The only difference is who is watching her walk through the forest. I am alone now._

_But I cannot bring myself to follow her. Some part of me wants this separation too. Perhaps not seeing Ayaka will ease the pain of the loss of my best friend._

_Of course, it could amplify it, since she is my only other friend. But somehow, I think this is for the best._

_I am forced to wonder, though, if this separation is temporary, permanent or something else entirely._

* * *

Well, now I suppose I should answer reviews. Not that I deserve any for this chapter, long as I made you wait.

animegrlsteph: Too bad I don't remember what the last line was...

White Rose Fox: Thanks for the review!


	25. Riddles

FCL64: Don't. Say. Anything.

Kiyoshi: You mean about how long it's been since you wrote and posted a chapter?

FCL64: I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY ANYTHING!

Kiyoshi: I couldn't help it. You all know who we own and here is the chapter. Apologies that it's been so long.

FCL64: In addition…if I ever use any of the names Anna, Aliah or Alanna, assume I mean Ayaka. Let's just say that I have way too many female characters whose names start with A and sometimes I type the wrong name.

* * *

Ayaka stared across Kurama's kitchen table at her old friend. "Kurama," she said, "I have a gut feeling that Kyo is going to attack us for real. And soon."

Kurama stared at her a long moment. "Unfortunately…I believe the same thing. He will want to kill us before we truly have enough information to be capable of stopping him effectively."

Kuwabara asked, "So what do you propose we do?"

Kaien and Ayaka responded immediately. "The demon plane."

"Come again?" Yusuke questioned.

Ayaka said, "The power involved, its volatile nature…of the lockets, the pendant, whatever it is Kyo possesses—to unleash such a power in the human realm, especially in a city, would be foolish."

"Foolish," Kaien muttered. "Talk about an understatement."

"Shut up," Ayaka answered.

"We just got back from the demon plane," Kuwabara complained.

Ayaka and Kurama exchanged a glance. Then Ayaka said, "Kuwabara, you are human. I think it would be best if you stay here when we go to deal with Kyo. The demon plane is not a place humans belong. Even those with abilities and a sixth sense such as yours cannot withstand the miasma of the demon realm for long."

"I'm going."

Kurama shook his head. "Kuwabara, your strength lies in hand to hand combat, one opponent against another. This fight will likely be a deadly matchup of wits followed by an even deadlier battle fought at a distance. At least four people will be using items whose power you cannot hope to contend with." Ayaka's eyes searched Kurama's face, but he avoided her eyes.

Kuwabara glared. "I ain't staying behind."

Kurama grimaced. "Very well. Just make sure Shizuru knows I warned you. I don't want to kill Kyo and have to deal with your sister because you've gotten yourself killed."

They stood, and Hiei created a portal between the two worlds. "I better get to fight," he muttered as Kurama passed him.

_Four days later…_

Ayaka bolted upright from a dead sleep. "Kaien," she hissed. "Kaien."

"What?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He glanced at the sky. "God, Ayaka, it's half past two. Couldn't this have waited until morning?"

"It is morning," she answered. "I know what Zuberi's cryptic messages mean."

"Which ones?" Kaien muttered resentfully. "Seems every word out of his mouth was a cryptic message."

"Well…the first one is just a guess, but he mentioned that Kyo has a gem of an entirely different nature from ours."

"And?" Ayaka's brother had given in to his sister's urgency to tell someone.

"What if it's not a stone at all? A diamond in the rough?"

"Ayaka, it's too early for mind games. What are you talking about?" Kaien groaned.

"A person?" Kurama asked.

Kaien jumped, but Ayaka simply nodded. "We know that Kyo had an apprentice. Sometimes apprentices were boys from poorer families, given the job in order to elevate their status in exchange for service to their master."

"Oh," Kaien breathed as he finally began to wake up. "Xanthippus was nearly as skilled as Kyo in the art of creating jewelry. A peasant boy who is able to create the most beautiful artifacts. A diamond in the rough."

"A valuable that is evidently quite capable of protecting Kyo, even now," Ayaka answered.

Kurama nodded. "Ayaka, you said cryptic messages. What do you mean, messages? Did you figure out another one?"

Ayaka nodded, "He mentioned that the jewels in our locket were found where—"

"Where the sun meets the sea and the sea meets the land and so on and so forth," Kaien interrupted. "We know. Can you just get on with it? I would very much like to go to sleep, on the off chance that we might have to fight for our lives tomorrow."

Ayaka shook her head. "Kaien, we _are_ the answer."

"What?" Both Kurama and Kaien spoke the word in one voice.

Ayaka stared at them both with open eyes that created an intensity Kurama had always wondered at. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are from the _earth_. We breathe the _air_." She pulled a knife from her side and cut her palm. Bright red liquid seeped out. "Blood may be thicker than water, but it's still mostly _water_."

"But what about fire?" Kaien demanded. "My element is fire. This can't possibly be the answer if it doesn't include fire."

Kurama answered before Ayaka had a chance, having immediately grasped her meaning. "Kaien," he asked, "have you ever seen a disembodied spirit? One protected by neither a body nor a ghost?" When Kaien shook his head, Kurama answered, "It looks like a _flame_, Kaien."

Ayaka grinned at her brother. "The answer was with us the whole time. Earth, air, water, fire. Land, sky, sea, sun."

"But Mother said the gems came from that place, Ayaka," Kaien countered no longer sleepy. "How could they have come from us?"

Ayaka hesitated, not knowing how to answer. Kurama, however, said, "The demonic realm is a strange place, Kaien. No telling what may have happened at your births. You do know what happens when an Ice Maiden bears a child, don't you? They cry a single tear which hardens into a precious gem. And weirder things have happened."

"Whatever," Kaien grumbled. "If all that's true, how are they supposed to be more powerful in the place they were found if they've been in that place all along?"

"Self-actualization," Ayaka answered. "Realizing one's full potential."

"Okay," Kaien muttered, rolling over. "That's enough for me. I believe you. Now I'm going back to sleep."

After a minute, Ayaka muttered, "He never was a morning person."

Kurama laughed quietly, a strange relief descending on him. Relief that they had discovered the place that held the most power, thereby giving Ayaka and Kaien an advantage. He pulled the pendant from his shirt and stared at it. He willed himself to find the image of Kuronue's face in its surface, but he could not. It had been far too long. He grasped it more tightly in his fist. The time to avenge his friend had come at last.

* * *

Once again, apologies for such a long time with no update. If anyone is still reading this story, I thank you for your dedication. Now reviews...

animegrlsteph: In all honesty...I don't remember what's depressing.

White Rose Fox: Thanks! :)


	26. Death

Kiyoshi: It's a miracle. We're back. Already.

FCL64: Oh, shut up. Anyway…I had to go back and watch YYH: Poltergeist Report again just for this chapter. I don't watch the anime much, mind you, so that I would watch that movie TWICE (both times for this story, btw) is quite out of the ordinary.

Kiyoshi: What are you even talking about?

FCL64: …Not sure. We have partial ownership of Ayaka and Kyo this chapter. I think that's everyone. :) ONWARD!

* * *

_1527 A.D._

_Kurama POV_

_As the sun sinks towards the horizon, Ayaka grows more and more quiet. She worries about us when we go on a raid alone. I am not quite sure why. We've been doing this for so long. Nothing has ever happened. Well, nothing with a significant impact. The oddest thing about it is that she doesn't resent us for leaving her alone so much as she worries we won't come back._

"_So, it should take about half an hour," I say. "Probably less. We've scouted the place so many times. We know every last line of defense they have."_

_Kuronue rolls his eyes. "Since we know so much about it, why do we need to discuss it? In a few hours we go in, we grab it, we get out. Piece of cake."_

"_Heh," I answer. "You are far too relaxed."_

"_Perhaps you are too on edge," he counters easily._

_I smile. "Perhaps." Then a spitting noise over the fire indicates that our meal is ready. The three of us each take a piece and begin eating._

"_Be careful when you go," Ayaka warns, only picking at her food._

"_Aren't we always?" Kuronue asks innocently. Innocently. I snort. That is one of the biggest contradictions I've ever heard._

"_Sometimes I wonder," she mutters. "Kurama, would you care to tell us what's so funny?"_

"_Just laughing at how innocent Kuronue sounded when he asked you that. And how much innocent does not go with his personality."_

_For a moment Ayaka tries to hold onto her worry, but then she joins in with me and Kuronue, laughing at the ridiculousness of the idea that any of us could be innocent._

_Kuronue and I stand. Ayaka frowns and says again, "Be careful."_

_I nod. "Yes, Ayaka. Always. We do not take unnecessary risks."_

"_Meaning you do take risks," she mutters._

_Kuronue laughs, and I smile in agreement. "We'll be back in two hours," I tell her. Then Kuronue and I run to our next target._

_As the castle looms nearer, our footsteps grow quieter, but our pace does not decrease. The moment we reach the castle doors, our backs are pressed up against the wall. After several minutes of watching, we have established what the timing of the guards is, circling the top of the walls._

_Kuronue glances at me. I nod. We both rush at the door, and Kuronue watches as I work my magic on the lock. Within seconds it clicks open. Swinging it open as little as possible, we slip inside._

_Immediately, as planned, Kuronue flits to the top of the walls and incapacitates each of the guards. As he does this, I am at the door to the actual building, where he meets me just as they open quietly onto a grand entrance hall._

"_Some have far too much money for my liking," I murmur._

"_We'll just have to relieve them of some of it, then, won't we?" Kuronue mutters back, a laughing tone to his voice._

"_Let's."_

_We quickly slip past all the guards, all the locked doors and up to the vault. As I work the seal, spinning dials and breaking enchantments, Kuronue hops from one foot to another, as usual unable to stand still in the thrill of the raid. The vault unseals with a hissing noise, and the two of us make our way in._

_It only takes seconds for my hands to fall on our desired prize: a golden tablet, engraved with powerful spells and incantations, a relic of the past that still holds great, perhaps even immeasurable, value._

_As we slip back down the stairs, a young girl sees us coming, and we are moving too fast to hide ourselves before we are seen. Then she screams, loud and bloodcurdling, a shriek I hope I never have to hear again. "Damn it," I curse. "How is it we always manage to get in without a soul aware of our presence, but on the way out we still have a mob of fools after our heads?"_

"_That's what makes it fun," he answers as we pick up our pace, sprinting for the doors._

_It's only moments before I hear the thunderous sound of palace residents chasing us. I glance back. "Torch and spear crowd today, Kuronue," I mutter._

"_How rural."_

"_We are way out here in the backwoods," I laugh. We pause a moment. I show him the tablet, he grins, and we continue on our way, the sound of our pursuers licking at our heels. There is nothing like the thrill of such a chase. But it's only fun when you are the one being chased._

_After a few moments, just as we are beginning to outpace them enough that there is no chance they will catch up, there is the quietest of chinks. Kuronue changes direction almost instantaneously. "Don't! Kuronue!" I call, perhaps louder than I should as he runs back in the direction from which we came._

"_I need it!" he shouts back at me. The pendant. Dear gods. That's what that sound was. The chain of that accursed piece of jewelry has broken. I turn to follow him._

_Then, just as he scoops the pendant up off the ground, there is the sound of spears slicing through the air. As he turns back to me, as he starts to run—no! A hollow shoot of bamboo sharpened to a point at one end pierces through his lower leg and into the ground, holding him in place. I freeze in horror. How could a raid so simple have gone so horribly, horribly wrong? "Kuronue!" I shout as more and more bamboo falls to the ground, piercing every part of his body._

_How could fools whose vault was so easy to break into possibly set such an ingenious trap? The hollow nature of the bamboo encourages the blood to flow outward, encourages a quicker death. I run to him. Just as I get to him, his blue eyes wide with pain, he shouts, "Forget about me, Kurama!" I ignore him. In his eyes there is also fear, but I can see he fears for my life, not his own. "Go! Run!"_

_His eyes flash to the shadows behind me, and I instinctively look back. There is a man in the shadows, watching, waiting for me to abandon him. Dark, dark, dark pink hair. Dark, dark, dark purple eyes. Wait—where is the light that allows me to see this? The residents of the palace! As they draw nearer, their torches flicker brighter. What do I do? Kuronue! I rush to his side, ignoring his plea, dropping the golden tablet on the ground. "I can save you!" I shout._

"_No!" he shoves my hands away violently. "It's too late for me, Kurama! I cannot let my best friend die as well. Take this, and do not, under any circumstances let anyone else get it!" He shoves the locket into my palm and shouts, "Now run, Kurama!"_

"_No!" I begin pulling out the bamboo. Kuronue's blood continues flowing. "Some bandages, some herbs…I can fix you up! Ayaka—she knows some healing, not a lot but enough to help! We can fix you, Kuronue!"_

"_No!" he snaps at me. "Get away from here, Kurama! There is nothing more you can do, and you know it!" He stops to gasp for a breath then continues on violently, "I am dying because I couldn't let that pendant fall into the hands of someone who cannot be trusted. I trust you, Kurama! If you die, there is no one but Ayaka, and she would not know where to find it! Do you want my death…my death to be for nothing, Kurama?" His voice is fading._

"_No!" I shout. "You cannot leave me, Kuronue! You are my best friend, my raiding partner! What am I to do without your help?"_

"_Protect…it…and _run_," he murmurs, chest heaving. I glance over my shoulder once more. The man in black with purple eyes is still waiting, still watching, still menacing. The torches draw nearer._

"_I will not let your death be in vain, Kuronue," I swear, grasping his hand one last time. "I will protect your pendant with my life."_

_As his chest heaves a few final times, I flee the torches and the man with purple eyes. He is the one who set the trap…bounty hunter. He is waiting for me to leave so that he can collect Kuronue's body._

_Damn it! Kuronue!_

omnomnom

* * *

Well...that's just downright depressing. Ah well. Here are the review repsponse(s).

animegrlsteph: And I don't know what comes next... Are you enjoying the fact with how much I'm updating today?


	27. Argument

Kiyoshi: Congratulations.

FCL64: For what?

Kiyoshi: For working on this story. That happens rarely enough.

FCL64: Uh-huh. Because I definitely have time, with everything else you're making me do.

Kiyoshi: Sure. Blame the guy no one else can see. We only own…well, perhaps only isn't the right words since there are so many OCs in this story. Oh well. You guys know what I'm trying to say.

FCL64: Even if you don't, Kiyoshi.

Kiyoshi: Not going to dignify that with a response.

* * *

"You okay, Kurama?" Yusuke asked. "You look kind of out of it."

"No," Kurama muttered, almost to himself. "I'm not okay. I haven't been okay for nearly half a millennium."

"Oh, Kurama," Ayaka said, jumping up and hugging him. "That's why we're here, remember? We're finishing this."

He bit his lip and nodded. "Yes. Finishing this is for the best. Ayaka, just do me one favor."

She smiled wryly. "Hiei is the one you'll have to talk to. I understand completely."

Hiei glared. "You don't want me to fight."

Kurama shrugged. "I don't particularly care who fights so long as I get to strike the death blow."

Hiei sighed and slouched up against the wall. "Whatever. I'll just come as backup. There may be two of them, but their quarrel is with you, Kaien and Ayaka. I can understand that you want to fight him on your own, Kurama. He was your best friend. I have no business with this if you do not need my help."

"Thanks, Hiei," Kurama said quietly.

Ayaka nodded and said, "Kurama, Kaien and I will take Xanthippus. Just…don't get yourself killed."

"If you recall," he said suddenly, "I do not care if I die. If I die, I die. But if I die, I'm taking him to hell with me."

She pursed her lips, and Kaien said, "Don't get yourself killed, Kurama. I've already had to put up with her after Kuronue's death. I don't want to see her suffer through yours as well."

Kurama stood up. "Don't say his name like you knew him," Kurama said, eyes full of an angry fire. "Don't talk about his death like you know what I went through."

"I wasn't," Kaien answered, not flinching back. "I was speaking of how I know his death affected my sister, the same way your death will affect her. All I know is that you are not even trying to move on, Kurama. I haven't heard you say his name the entire time I've been here. That seems to—" He broke off when Ayaka's claws dug a warning into his forearm.

Kurama was looking down at the floor, his aura resonating through the room. Ayaka and the others could see him seething with rage at Kaien's words. Suddenly he took two steps across the room and struck Kaien across the face. Kaien jumped back, glaring, and Ayaka flexed her fingers in anger. She stood tall next to her brother. "Don't pretend it's not true, Kurama," she said. "I've heard you say his name once in the last five centuries."

Golden eyes flashed in anger. "You are just so ready to move on, Ayaka. You can't get over it soon enough. It's like you're running from the truth," he accused.

"I get it, Kurama, okay? I get that his death hit you harder than it hit me," she snapped back. "But I'm not the one running from the truth. You're the one hiding here in the human world. I'm the one who had to seek you out in order to find closure. It's like you think by avoiding anything to do with your old life you can pretend it never happened."

Kurama got ready to retort, but Kuwabara interrupted, "We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves, you guys."

"Stay out of this," Kaien warned. "This is not just an argument between friends."

"What?" Yusuke asked. "What do you mean, Kaien?"

"Fox thing," he muttered. "You wouldn't understand it. It's an argument fueled further by five centuries of pain as well as being a manifestation of the way foxes work better alone. And the fact that when they can work with others, foxes almost never partner with each other."

Kurama and Ayaka ignored all of this. "I'm not trying to pretend it didn't happen, Ayaka. I'm faced with the fact that I just left him there every single day of my life, understand? I abandoned him to save myself."

Then, picking up on something Kurama himself hadn't really registered, Ayaka said harshly, "He's not coming back, Kurama. No matter how much either of us wishes it was me instead, that bastard got Kuronue, not me, and there is nothing we can do about it."

Silence settled over the group. Then Kurama turned away from them to stare out the window. Ayaka was breathing heavily. Finally Kurama whispered, "I'm sorry, Ayaka. I didn't mean…I wish it hadn't been Kuronue, but that doesn't mean I ever wanted it to be you instead. I can't pretend that he wasn't a closer friend than you, but I would never have wanted you to die either."

"Kurama," Ayaka said far more gently than before, "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. All three of us always knew the truth. If forced to choose, you would have saved Kuronue's life before you'd have saved mine. And he would have saved your life first. We all knew that. But it worked because I understood how lucky I was to have ever gotten to be a part of that group in the first place."

There was silence. Then Kurama said, "And we all also knew that you would have rescued Kuronue before you would have saved me. But I never resented you for that. And you never resented us. So why are we fighting over this?"

Ayaka didn't respond, aware only of the fact that he had finally said the name. "Like Kaien said," she finally whispered, "Five hundred years of emotions."

Kaien looked at her. "You would have saved Kuronue before Kurama? You never told me that. You just said that either of them would have helped the other before helping you. Why do you have a preference?" Ayaka looked away from her brother. "Oh," he said. "Oh. Ayaka, why didn't you tell me before?"

"It was just easier to pretend…it made it all hurt less, somehow."

"What's going on here?" Yusuke asked loudly. "Why would she have chosen Kuronue over you, Kurama?"

"Just…" Kurama began. Then he sighed. "I intentionally forgot that Ayaka had reasons to be hurt by his death that I did not have. I made a point of forgetting it because it made her look so much stronger than I was, since she was truly hurting as much but was letting it show so much less."

"Huh?" Yusuke asked.

"She was in love with him, moron," Hiei muttered.

"Really?" Yusuke said in surprise. He looked at Ayaka, who was still avoiding everyone's eyes. Only Kaien knew that she was crying, although Kurama suspected it. "But then why are you okay with Kurama killing the bounty hunter, if you have just as much reason to hate him?"

"Kuronue did not reciprocate my feelings," she whispered. "I never told him directly, but they obviously knew. And Kurama was friends with him for far longer than I, and I do not believe I could take him anyway. And Xanthippus was as responsible for Kuronue's death as Kyo was."

Kurama sighed. "He did feel something for you, Ayaka. He just repressed it as best as he could. He never told you because he didn't want to complicate things. He didn't want to have to risk choosing between his girl and his best friend."

"As touching as this little trip down memory lane is," a gravelly voice said, suddenly appearing in Kurama's door. Everyone spun to stare at the pink-haired, purple-eyed, black-clad bounty hunter as he continued, "I'm going to have to break it up. I need to kill three of you—and anyone else who gets in my way—before you learn anything else that could help you kill me."

Kurama's fox ears twitched in hatred, and he repressed a growl of fury. "Not here. The demon plane. I can't kill you here. Not in my mother's house, not in a human city."

"You've grown soft, Kurama," Kyo chuckled. "To think that you could kill me when you're worried about a human woman, of all things."

Ayaka glared and said, "Where is he, Kyo? Where is your _apprentice_? He's too involved in this to be left alive, as far as I'm concerned."

Kyo chuckled. "He did mention that you knew of him. The demon plane, you say. Might as well, if you're intent on fighting both of us."

"No," Kurama said darkly. "I fight you alone. Completely alone. Neither of us is allowed any aid. This is between you and me. Kaien and Ayaka will deal with Xanthippus."

Kyo grinned. "Very well."

They went down the stairs, and Kyo ripped a hole, forming a bridge between the two realms, sealing it off once everyone had passed through. Almost immediately, a man with bright blue eyes and hair to match appeared. "I told you this was coming, Kyo," he noted, ignoring the others. "I knew that once they learned of my existence they would settle for nothing less than the death of us both."

"I suppose it can't be helped," the bounty hunter replied. He turned. "Kurama, where would you like to do this?"

"First tell me—why do you want the lockets and the pendant so badly that you are willing to kill for them?"

* * *

animegrlsteph: It's kind of vital to the story though...


	28. Reasoning

Kiyoshi: Really? This is the second chapter you've written today.

FCL64: Well we finally know what's going to happen *glares* so I kind of just want to finish this story. I kind of just want to finish all my stories and be done with writing for about six years.

Kiyoshi: Liar.

FCL64: Whatever. The fact remains that this is the FIRST chapter I've written today. It's nine minutes past midnight.

Kiyoshi: Uh-huh…Ayaka, Kaien…you know the drill.

* * *

_Kyo pov_

_514 B.C._

_I place the glowing red gem into the metal and press it in carefully, sealing it in place with my demonic aura. I can feel its power pulsing gently in between my fingers. The man who asked for this piece is hovering over me, watching my every move._

_It cools for nearly an hour before I pick it up and hand it to him, still warm. He drops the cash he promised in my hand. "Thank you for your business," I tell him._

_He nods and vanishes, wings fluttering as he walks away. I wonder what that gem can do, that he would be so taciturn and jittery the entire time it was out of his hands, even if he was standing over me the entire time._

_11 B.C._

_The gem is a powerful one. I carefully work it into the silver band, making it fit nice and tight so that it won't ever come out._

_I hand it back to the woman, who smiles. "Thank you for your trouble. This will protect my daughter wherever she goes. Thank you."_

_I get some weird customers. Xanthippus shakes his head. "People and the objects they worship."_

"_Like you're much better," I chastise him. "That diamond you're always polishing, watching people, listening to them. It's very creepy, Xanthippus."_

_He frowns, but as always he does not speak back to me._

_78 A.D._

_The man presses the money into my palm and walks away, clutching the bracelet securely in his hand. Somehow, the gems that burned hotter than my forge do not seem to bother his hand at all._

"_Xanthippus," I say. "Come help me clean this mess up."_

"_Yes, sir," he replies instantly._

"_No need to call me 'sir' anymore if you do not wish," I tell him yet again. "You are a skilled enough jeweler that you could easily find work on your own, or at the very least you could work with me instead of for me."_

"_No. I'm content with the life I have, working for room and board," he replies easily._

_989 A.D._

_A woman clad all in dark green walks up to me, her steps brisk and businesslike. "You would be Kyo?" she asks the moment I face her._

"_Yes," I reply, looking at her pale green eyes and her pale brown hair. "How can I help you?"_

"_I have four jewels I want set. I have heard that you are the best."_

"_I'll do what I can, ma'am. Show them to me and explain what you want, and I will do my utmost to make it as perfect as possible."_

_She nods, and her fox tail flicks out behind her nervously. Her ears are standing straight up in the air. Why is she so tense? "First," she begins. "You must do this personally. You cannot have your apprentice help you. I do not care if he sees what you are doing, but he cannot be allowed to work on them."_

"_Understood." This is another of those weird requests. It's going to be so incredibly detailed, but the payout will be completely worth it._

"_I want two lockets, solid gold. Each is to have two of the four stones in it. I want the sapphire and diamond paired, and I want the garnet and the onyx paired." She places the four stones in my hand. A slight energy pulses up my fingers and into my hand. She continues, "I want the lockets to be capable of connecting to each other, the garnet and sapphire being paired and the onyx and garnet being together when the two pieces are snapped together."_

_This is already the most bizarre request I've had. "May I inquire as to why?"_

"_They are for my daughter and son, opposites but balanced out. These were found the day they were born. That is all you need to know about them."_

"_Well…I believe it can be done, but first we must discuss—"_

_She drops a small sack of coins on the table. "Payment."_

_I open it. The pieces are copper, not silver or gold. Worth a fair amount in the quantity she has handed me but not enough for what she's asking me to do. "This is not enough," I tell her. "Not for what you're asking me to make."_

"_That is what I am giving you now," she replies. "If you take it you are swearing to keep what you are doing to yourself. Your apprentice Xanthippus may watch, but he cannot touch. I will return every day to inspect your work. If the lockets are done by tomorrow and done well, I will pay you twice the number of pieces in that bag in gold. Each day the number of pieces decreases by three. Does this sound fair to you?"_

_I nod. "I will have them ready for you as soon as possible."_

_Why is it that, lately, more and more of these powerful pieces have been making there way to my shop?_

_1264 A.D._

_As I am carefully putting the final touches on a wedding ring, a man approaches me. "One moment," I tell him, focusing on the metal._

_When I look up at him, I find that he is very old, his hands are clawed, and he is blind. "Let me see one of your pieces."_

"_What would you like?"_

"_It matters not."_

_I hesitate then place the ring in his hand. In less than ten seconds he hands it back to me and says, "I have found you at last. You are the metalworker sending such terrible things out into the world, Kyo."_

"_Terrible things?" I ask, turning the ring over in my fingers. It's a beautiful piece. Even a blind man should be able to tell that._

"_I do not mean all your pieces are terrible, boy," he says. "I just mean that some of the things you have created can kill many, many people."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I can tell what the stones of the earth can do, Kyo. I can tell you the life story of any rock or gem. Several people have come to me, knowing that their jewelry possesses powerful properties but not knowing what. Many of these people's stones speak of your hands working feverishly over a forge. And this worries me, for these objects are very, very dangerous."_

"_Examples?" I ask. He's accusing me of attempting to cause mass destruction, isn't he?_

"_Two lockets set with a total of four gems representing fire, water, wind and earth. A bracelet whose red hot stones came from the center of a volcano and are endowed with properties that allow them to control the nearest volcano," the man says calmly. I have never heard of any of this. But I remember both of those pieces. He continues, "A ring that has a pearl in it that completely disorients anyone who tries to harm the wearer, no matter how minor the offense. A pendant whose blood red stone drains energy from the environment around it, killing everything, turns it into negative energy and releases that destructive force on the world. Among others."_

"_I remember these pieces, but I have nothing to do with their capabilities," I object._

"_Placing them in the jewelry makes them easier to use, Kyo," he explains. "These objects are not ones that should be trifled with. You are one of a very few metalworkers who is still willing to set gems that possess auras of their own." I'm aware. As a result, it's a very lucrative business. "I believe you should stop. These objects are dangerous and should not be possessed by anyone but the gods."_

_I nod. "I will take your advice…?"_

"_Zuberi." He gives me his name and walks away without another word. What am I to do about these gems I have set and the dangers they are creating?_

_Xanthippus comes up behind me and says, "You know what we need to do, right?"_

_I nod. "Find the objects and destroy them." He's right. I helped create them. I must get rid of them. "How? They won't be willing to part with those objects."_

_He nods. "We may need to kill them."_

_I turn to look at him. "No. I do not kill, Xanthippus."_

_Bright blue eyes stare back. "How many more people will they kill if you don't kill them first? How many people will you save, Kyo?" He called me by my name. He is truly serious. And he's right. This is the only way._

_1524 A.D._

_Bounty hunter for the Underworld. That sounds so wrong. I feel like a traitor. But I now have a commission to kill two of the last three people who possess those dangerous objects._

_And I also have a commission to kill the thief and murderer Kurama. I will be saving even more people by killing him as well. _

* * *

Well, interesting chapter, all in all. On to reviews. :)

animegrlsteph: you're telling _me_ it was unexpected? I blame Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi: HEY!


	29. Vengeance

Kiyoshi: Another chapter?

FCL64: Sure. You all know who we own. You also know who we own with the help of animegrlsteph. That's all I really have to say today.

* * *

Kyo easily walked Kurama through the whole story from start to finish. When he finally said the last of his tale, Kurama said, "So you developed a god complex."

"Perhaps," Kyo answered. "But that is not the point. The point is that you can either give me that pendant, or you can die."

"I'm not going to give you the pendant," Kurama replied. "I'm not going to die. I'm going to kill you."

"Are you now?"

Kurama pulled the pendant from his shirt. "You're afraid of this thing, aren't you? As you should be."

Kurama saw Kyo's purple eyes flash with fear. "You can't control it."

"Yes, I can," Kurama replied. "It is the key to your _total destruction_. That is all I desire. Once I have killed you, I will be content. I will be able to move on. And it hardly matters if I can control it. It may kill me, but it will kill you as well. You remember, don't you, that I swore on _my life_ to kill you? I stand by that, making my life and possible death entirely irrelevant."

Kyo stared. Then moving with a speed his opponent could not follow, Kurama broke the chain and let a small amount of his aura disappear into the pendant. Then he watched with a cruel smile on his face as all the plants and animals near him withered and died. Kyo retreated several steps in order to avoid getting dragged down by the simple aura intake.

Then Kurama grimaced and said, "Goodbye, Kyo." There was a blast as the negative energy in the pendant charged forward. It collided with the other man, who screamed in pain. But the scream only lasted a second. His body fell to the ground and disintegrated into a pile of ash.

Kurama nodded to himself and took a deep breath. It surprised him that he felt more at peace now than he ever had in the five centuries since his best friend had died. He turned to see Kaien arguing with the other man, Xanthippus.

"What is your aim?" Kaien demanded. "It sounds as though you are the one who really wanted us dead, you bastard. While he was actually killing everyone, it sounds as though you're the one who talked him into all of it."

The blue haired man shrugged. "Perhaps I did. But I could have easily killed you all myself. I just didn't feel it was worth my trouble."

"I see the ring you are wearing, Xanthippus," Ayaka said quietly. "But it will not save you this time. The calm Kaien and I must feel to control these lockets cannot be knocked away by anything. The force of the universe is coming down on our minds, and we can remain calm in the face of that. One little stone won't be so difficult." The ring on his finger was one of the objects he had obtained with Kyo's help. One of the pieces Kyo had killed for.

Ayaka and Kaien stepped closer together. Kaien snapped the lockets together, and they each let their energy flow into it, knowing that it would be more powerful now than ever before.

But they were far calmer now than ever before; killing this man would end the battle they had been fighting for centuries. Ayaka whispered, "You are as responsible for Kuronue's death as Kyo was. For that you must die."

The whole world seemed much calmer than Kurama had imagined, hearing the stories. But suddenly the wind picked up, tearing at Xanthippus's clothing and hair. The ring on his finger began glowing, but it was he who became disoriented rather than Ayaka and Kaien. Rain began pouring down, and then a single bolt of lightning struck, stealing the life of the man before them.

Kaien and Ayaka pulled the lockets apart and turned to Kurama. Ayaka said, "We knew what Zuberi meant, the difference between us sharing the will of the universe and the universe sharing our will. Not that the two were much different, in this case. Murderers disrupt the balance."

"Ayaka and I are all about the balance," Kaien noted. "Perhaps I should stop killing. It is not my place to take lives. It is not my place to pass judgement."

Ayaka nodded. "The same goes for theft, I suppose."

Kurama looked at her for a long time then said, "One last raid, Ayaka."

"What for?" she asked.

"The tablet. I dropped it on the ground when I was trying to save him. I left it there when I ran."

She stared at him. "Why?"

"I know how to destroy this." He held up the pendant. "Or at least I have a good guess, now that I've seen how it works. I want to create a memorial for him. I think that tablet would make an appropriate grave marker."

Ayaka nodded. "Fine. Destroy it, and we'll go. I remember every detail of that castle. It won't take long, and there isn't a bounty hunter outside waiting for us."

Kurama walked a short ways away, pulled energy in and released it. The moment he released it, he threw the pendant in the air and dropped to the ground, with the intent of the energy returning to the pendant.

The aura clashed with the pendant, the pendant shuddered and fell slowly to the ground. The force of the impact cracked the jewel into hundreds of miniscule pieces which fell in a shower to the ground.

Kurama breathed in deeply and swept the broken jewelry up into his hand. Placing it in his pocket, he returned to Ayaka. Ayaka looked at Kaien and said, "Kaien, we—"

"Have to do this on your own," he finished for her. "I get it. This is the closure you've needed. You don't want me and Hiei there. It was just the three of you, and you want it to be just the three of you one last time."

She nodded. Kurama took her hand, and they set off for the palace where the golden tablet engraved with spells still resided.

* * *

...sweiveR

FireStorm1991: Yeah. Pretty much. Twisted logic is a nice way of putting it.

animegrlsteph: Ummm...duh it's a bad idea. Kyo is a...sadistic isn't the right word, since he's not really into the whole torture thing...oh forget it you know what I'm getting at. You speak my language.


	30. Closure

Kiyoshi: At last. The final chapter.

FCL64: I didn't realize it would come so quickly. Kyo and Xanthippus seemed far too easy to kill.

Kiyoshi: It was their intelligence that gave them power. When they no longer had the power to manipulate, they fell apart. And Kyo talks too much.

FCL64: Over confident.

Kiyoshi: Haha. Yes. Well, a final disclaimer seems to be in order. With animegrlsteph's help we own Ayaka, Kaien and Kyo. On our own we own Xanthippus, Zuberi and Lori. That's everyone, I think. Here's the last chapter.

* * *

_Kurama pov_

_1255 A.D._

_I walk through the night. The piece I was after was missing. Someone had already stolen it. This has never happened before. There is someone out there who possibly presents some competition. I must find him and kill him._

_And I've been tracking him for days now. I've almost caught up with him. I step into a cave, shelter from the rain. "Caught up to me, have you?" a voice says from the dark._

"_You're the one who stole the sword," I reply. I can't see anything._

"_Yes."_

"_Do you know why I've been following you?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Are you afraid?"_

"_No."_

"_Why not?" Is he really that arrogant? He sounds young. He has been at this for far fewer years than I have. He does not stand a chance._

"_You are far too curious about me to kill me without learning what my skills are first."_

_There is a spark as he lights a fire. I walk toward him. "Yes," I say slowly, surprised by the truth in his words. If I was really intent on killing him, he would already be dead. "I do."_

_He chuckles. He is dressed all in black. He possesses black wings. Bat demon. He laughs again. "I thought you would appreciate meeting a bat demon in a cave."_

_I nod. "I find it interesting that you thought that." I think that I could work with this man. "You say I want to find out what you are capable of. Are you suggesting a partnership?"_

"_I am."_

_I sit down by the fire, and he offers me bread. "Very well. I've been without an accomplice for several years now. Working with someone will make a nice change."_

"_My thoughts precisely."_

Kurama and Ayaka had spent days breaking away a small area in the floor of the cave. Once they had finished, they placed the remnants of the pendant in it and fixed the tablet in place over the top of it.

"I only wish," Kurama finally choked out, staring down at the grave, "I only wish that we had actually had his body to bury, rather than just the accursed stone he died for and the tablet we were after the night he died."

"It's the best we can do, Kurama," Ayaka said quietly. "He'd understand." She hesitated then asked, "Kurama, can I have a moment alone with him?"

Kurama smiled sadly. "Yes, Ayaka. I'll wait outside."

"Thanks." Once Kurama had left, Ayaka knelt by the grave and ran her fingers over the name and dates they had carved into the wall. "I loved you, Kuronue. I understand that you knew that. I hope you forgive me for it. I've tried to be strong, get stronger all these years because I thought that you would have wanted that. I told Kurama that I came to try and move on. I feel like I have achieved the calm I need to do that…" She ran her fingers through her hair and snorted. "I feel like such an idiot, talking like this. Can you even hear me, Kuronue? I need to believe that you can." She sighed, tears dripping from her eyes onto the dirty ground. "That's all, Kuronue. I'll always love you."

Outside the cave, Kurama was staring at the sky. He sighed. "Kuronue…" He shook his head. "I achieved what you wanted for that pendant. I got vengeance. I suppose all that's really left is to say goodbye." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Goodbye…"

Ayaka appeared by his side. "You ready to go, Kurama?"

He nodded. "I'm glad you came back, Ayaka. I think my life will be less painful now that all of this is over."

She smiled. "And if it gets hard again, we can come visit. I'll visit you. And we can visit Kuronue. I think Kaien and I are probably going to go back home. You can visit us there."

He nodded. "Over. It's all over."

Somewhere in the afterlife, a bat demon breathed in deeply. He shook his head. "Ayaka and Kurama," he sighed to himself. "It's been five hundred years. Took you long enough to find closure, you morons."

* * *

There you have it. The final chapter. Thanks to all my readers. Time for the last replies to reviews, and I will answer any reviews to this chapter privately. This story is dedicated to: KuramaEnzanBlues, animegrlsteph, FireStorm1991, White Rose Fox, Foxgirl Ray, racerabbit, and turtwigfan98. Thanks to all of you for all of your support!

KuramaEnzanBlues: Thank you. :)

animegrlsteph: wasn't what I was expecting either. In all honesty, I just kind of want to be done with this story. And dysfunctional family. and alphabet soup. and Anna. thankfully, Anna is completely written. actually, i want to be done with fanfiction altogether so i'll have time to work on my stories. Do you have any idea how much I have to read before I can even _start_ to write Dead Girl Walking? Three full length novels and eighteen wikipedia pages! I hate my life.


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